Initially, this album may look closer to a challenging academic challenge than a new pop project from an artist who just had a last hit was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Split into 4 different parts and voiced in thirteen tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged opus investigating feminine mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal change, frequently through the lens of various women saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic treated with raw openness on another major 2025 album—soars upwards here, carried by the lush sound of a full orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer among a long list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity alone renders the work of contemporary artists appear quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape overly intellectual chin-stroking feels nearly miraculous, and sole credit belonging to the artist. While it's not the first time album to blend historical sounds with modern styles, its stakes feel much greater here, with the tightrope walk far more pronounced. What truly raises this fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is a core sense of fun. Similar to the legendary artist during her peak, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its tornado. When she is breaking hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to be right there for the journey.
A Signature Example of Joy
That exuberant spirit comes forth brightly on a stirring piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several minutes. Then, everything drops away, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh and a declaration before a comically exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes down like comedic force. The song then segues into the frenetic track featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The magic with Lux lies in the listener rarely quite know—or even wish to predict—where you is going to next."
Almost every track finishes at a completely distinct place from how it started. A track examines the fleeting trappings of fame with a delicate orchestration only to collapsing into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing her previous rhythmic work begins off dark and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to smooth the song's jagged corners.
The Balance Of Art & Pop
Another crucial balancing act of the album is navigating the line of bold experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no coincidence that it has achieved her first work to break into the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. A song sung primarily in English swells on a refrain that feels to collect increasingly nagging hooks while it spirals upward. That feat gets echoed by another powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining layered melodies as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns with cultural impact of other breakup songs, eviscerating a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across the album, the singing have a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand scale, a hungry reach for capital-A Art in an era of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried gems that requires time to completely explore but never feels like a chore. Where some big releases of the year felt like feasting on meal, Lux offers a lavish banquet where the characters at it, some intoxicated on holy drink, flutter between discussions about ancient figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most restlessly inventive visionary.
