At first glance, this album could seem more like a difficult scholarly examination than a new popular music project from a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Split into four different movements and sung in 13 tongues, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced opus investigating feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, often through the lens of various women saints. The end of a romance—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning composer within a long roll call of contributors. Its sheer audacity by itself makes the work of contemporary pop stars look quite small.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That Lux succeeds in transcend dry intellectual chin-stroking feels nothing short of a miracle, and full praise belonging to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, the stakes are much greater here, with the balancing act more pronounced. What really raises her fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be a core spirit of playfulness. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's voice that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart in two, the listener still want to be right there through the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful energy comes forth clearly on the stirring Italian ballad inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over several minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls away, and there's a gleeful laugh and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated orchestral surge crashes down with comedic force. The track then shifts to the frenetic track driven by racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm of Lux is that you rarely exactly know—or even wish to know—where it is going next."
Nearly every track concludes in a completely distinct point than where it began. A track explores the fleeting nature of fame over a delicate symphony before collapsing in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing her earlier trap-infused work starts off dark and sinister, with prowling beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on the album involves straddling the line between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no coincidence that it has achieved her first release to crack the Top 5 of major charts: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song sung entirely in English builds around a chorus that seems to collect increasingly nagging hooks while it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed on a different expansive ballad that grows and contracts, weaving multiple tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with cultural impact of other breakup anthems, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the vocals have a painted-on smile, like a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album is pop on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of impending artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of sublime elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. It is a deep well of buried treasure that requires time to fully explore but doesn't feels like hard work. Where some big releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux offers a sumptuous feast where the guests at the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flit from conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
