On the surface, Lux may look more like a difficult scholarly challenge than the latest pop record from an artist whose previous single featured a global pop star. Divided into four different parts and performed in thirteen tongues, we have a breathtaking symphonic album investigating feminine mystique, religious ascent, and bodily transformation, often by way of the prism of various female saints. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot upwards on this record, buoyed by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning composer among an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure ambition by itself makes the efforts of other artists look rather modest.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That Lux manages to escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of miraculous, and complete praise belonging to the artist. Although it's not the first time album to alchemize historical sounds with modern styles, its ambitions feel much higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. What truly elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be a core sense of playfulness. Similar to the legendary artist during her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she is breaking hearts apart, you nevertheless want to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This playful energy comes forth clearly on a stirring piano-led ballad inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over several minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh and a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated string surge crashes down with cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts to the wild track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic with this album lies in you rarely quite know—or even wish to predict—where it will go next."
Almost every track finishes in a completely distinct place than where it started. A track explores the fleeting nature of fame over a featherlight symphony before collapsing in electronic chaos. Another, a cut echoing her previous rhythmic style begins out moody and sinister, featuring menacing beats, before sudden traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth its rough edges.
The Balance Of Experiment & Pop
A key achievement on Lux is straddling the line between radical innovation and broad appeal. It is no surprise that the album has achieved the artist's highest-charting work to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of truly catchy hits. A song sung primarily in the English language builds around a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies as it spins upward. This feat is echoed on a different expansive track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its playful, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting an ex- lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects self-absorption for glorious elevation, creating a dramatic drama that skillfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried treasure that requires patience to fully explore but doesn't feels like hard work. While other big releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record offers a lavish banquet at which the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flutter between conversations about ancient saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless men. It is a modern-day musical from music's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
