At first glance, this album may look more like an arduous university challenge than the latest popular music project by an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Broken across 4 distinct parts and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a head-spinning classical-tinged work exploring female mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, often via the prism of different saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is shot upwards here, carried by the constant presence of a full orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning composer within an extensive roll call of contributors. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the efforts of other pop stars appear quite small.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
That this album manages to avoid overly intellectual chin-stroking feels nothing short of a miracle, and complete praise belonging to the artist. Although this is not the first time project to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, the scale feel far greater on Lux, and the balancing act more precarious. What truly elevates her fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained drama, is an essential sense of fun. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its tornado. Even when she is breaking your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to stay right there through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Joy
That exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during a stirring piano-led song about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy over several minutes. Then, everything drops silent, and we hear a spontaneous laugh followed by a declaration prior to a comically exaggerated string crescendo thuds down like cartoonish force. The track then segues into the frenetic track driven by racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm of this album is that you rarely exactly understand—or even wish to know—where it will go next."
Nearly every song finishes in a completely different point from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting nature of fame over a featherlight orchestration before disintegrating in electronic chaos. Another, a song that recalls her previous trap-infused work begins off dark and sinister, with menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its rough edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Pop
A key balancing act of Lux involves straddling the line of radical experimentation and broad appeal. It is no coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song sung entirely in English swells around a chorus that feels to collect more and more nagging hooks while it spins skyward. This feat is echoed on another expansive ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining layered tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its playful, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the cultural honesty of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for capital-A artistry in an era of impending artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. It is a deep source of buried gems that requires patience to fully mine but doesn't feels like a chore. While other major pop albums of 2025 felt like a meager meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet where the characters around the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about useless men. It is a modern-day musical from pop's truly restlessly creative visionary.