At first glance, this album may look more like a difficult scholarly examination rather than a new popular music record by an artist who just had a previous single was a collaboration with a global pop star. Divided across 4 separate parts and performed in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking symphonic opus that delves into female mystique, religious ascent, and corporal transformation, often via the lens of various women saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—soars upwards on this record, buoyed by the constant presence of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer among an extensive roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists look rather small.
Transcending Scholarly Exercise
The fact that Lux manages to escape dry academic posturing is nothing short of miraculous, and complete credit belonging to the artist. Although this is not the first time project to alchemize the past and modern styles, its stakes are far higher here, and the balancing act far more precarious. The element that really elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk at her height, you find a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to be right there for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This playful energy comes forth clearly on a stirring piano-led ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, everything falls silent, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh followed by a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo crashes down like cartoonish impact. The track then shifts to the frenetic track driven by galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The charm with Lux lies in the listener never exactly know—nor wish to predict—where you is going next."
Nearly each track concludes in a totally distinct place from where it started. A track examines the transient trappings of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing her previous rhythmic style begins out moody and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly choir enter to smooth its rough edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act of the album is straddling the line of bold experimentation and mainstream accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has achieved her highest-charting work to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of truly catchy hits. One track sung entirely in English swells around a refrain that feels to collect more and more nagging hooks as it spins upward. That feat is repeated by a different expansive track that grows and constricts, weaving multiple tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former partner described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
Lux is popular music on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried gems that takes patience to fully explore but never seem like hard work. Where other major pop albums of 2025 felt like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous feast at which the guests around it, some intoxicated on holy drink, flit between conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common gossip about useless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
