At first glance, Lux could seem closer to a difficult university examination than the latest popular music project by a musician who just had a last single featured a global pop star. Split across four separate sections and sung in thirteen tongues, we have a breathtaking symphonic opus exploring feminine mystique, religious ascent, and bodily change, frequently via the prism of different women saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a topic treated with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched upwards on this record, carried by the constant presence of a major orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive roll call of contributors. Its sheer daring by itself renders the work of contemporary artists look rather small.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux succeeds in avoid dry intellectual chin-stroking is nearly a miracle, and full praise belonging to the artist. Although this is not the first time project to alchemize the past and the present, its scale feel far greater here, and the tightrope walk far more precarious. What truly elevates her fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. When she's tearing your heart apart, you still want to stay right there for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit shines clearly on the stunning Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy over several minutes. Suddenly, everything falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo thuds down like cartoonish force. The song then segues to the frenetic track driven by racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic of Lux is that you rarely quite understand—or even want to predict—what you will go next."
Nearly every track finishes in a completely different point than how it started. A track explores the fleeting nature of celebrity with a featherlight symphony before disintegrating in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work begins off moody and brooding, featuring menacing beats, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic choir enter to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Pop
Another crucial balancing act on Lux involves straddling the line between radical innovation and broad accessibility. This is little coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds around a chorus that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spins upward. This feat gets echoed by another powerful ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining layered tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture impact of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating an ex- partner labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep source of hidden treasure that requires patience to completely mine but never feels like hard work. While some big releases of the year seemed like feasting on meal, Lux offers a lavish banquet at which the guests around the table, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter from conversations about ancient figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about useless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
