On the surface, Lux could seem more like a difficult university challenge than the latest pop record by a musician whose previous hit featured an international K-pop icon. Broken across 4 distinct movements and performed in 13 tongues, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work that delves into female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, frequently through the perspective of different saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward on this record, buoyed by the constant presence of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within a long roll call of collaborators. The pure audacity by itself makes the work of other pop stars appear rather small.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That this album manages to escape overly academic chin-stroking feels almost miraculous, with full praise going to Rosalía. While this is not the first time project to fuse the past and modern styles, the stakes are far greater on Lux, with the balancing act more precarious. The element that truly raises her fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk during her peak, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its tornado. When she's breaking your heart apart, the listener still desire to stay right there through the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful spirit shines clearly during a stunning piano-led ballad inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy over several minutes. Then, everything drops silent, and we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration before a hilariously exaggerated orchestral surge thuds down with comedic force. The song then segues to the frenetic track driven by galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.
"The charm of Lux is that the listener never exactly understand—nor want to know—where you will go to next."
Almost each song finishes in a completely distinct place from where it began. One moment explores the transient trappings of fame with a delicate orchestration before disintegrating in digital chaos. Another, a cut that recalls her previous trap-infused style starts off moody and brooding, with prowling beats, until sudden traditional handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to soften its rough edges.
The Balance Between Art & Pop
A key achievement of the album involves navigating the line of radical experimentation and mainstream appeal. It is no surprise that it has become the artist's highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in the English language swells on a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies while it spins skyward. That feat is repeated by another powerful track that grows and constricts, weaving layered melodies like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a painted-on edge, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album is pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews solipsism for glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. This is an abundant source of hidden gems that takes patience to fully mine but never feels like hard work. While other major pop albums of 2025 felt like feasting on scraps, this record offers a sumptuous feast at which the characters at it, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter from conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and common gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
