🔗 Share this article

On the surface, this work might appear closer to a challenging academic challenge than the latest pop project from an artist whose last hit featured an international K-pop star. Split across four distinct movements and sung in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning symphonic album exploring feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal transformation, often through the prism of different women saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is shot heavenward here, carried by the constant presence of a full orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long list of contributors. Its sheer daring alone makes the work of contemporary pop stars seem rather small.

Rising Above Scholarly Pretense

The fact that this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is almost a miracle, with complete praise going to the artist. While this is not her first album to alchemize the past with the present, the stakes are far higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more precarious. The element that really raises this fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained theatricality, is an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener into its tornado. Even when she's tearing your heart in two, you still desire to stay alongside her for the ride.

A Signature Example of Exuberance

That exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during the stunning piano-led ballad about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four moments. Then, everything falls away, to reveal we hear a spontaneous laugh and a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated string surge crashes in like comedic force. The track immediately segues into the frenetic single driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.

"The charm with this album is that you never quite understand—or even wish to predict—where you will go next."

Almost every track ends at a completely distinct point from how it began. One moment examines the fleeting nature of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing in digital chaos. Another, a song that recalls her previous trap-infused style starts off dark and brooding, with prowling beats, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth the song's jagged corners.

The Bridge Between Experiment & Pop

A key balancing act on Lux involves navigating the gap of bold experimentation and broad appeal. This is no coincidence that it has become her first work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a collection of truly catchy hits. One track sung primarily in the English language builds around a chorus that feels to gather more and more infectious melodies while it spirals upward. That feat is repeated on another powerful track that expands and contracts, weaving layered tunes like a complex tapestry.

• A dance-infused song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
• Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture honesty of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
• Across these tracks, the vocals have a sharp edge, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."

A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul

Lux is popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for high artistry amid of looming artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its own inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of hidden gems that takes patience to fully mine but doesn't feels like hard work. While some major pop albums of 2025 seemed like a meager meal, this record offers a lavish banquet at which the guests at it, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter from conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.