At first glance, Lux may look more like an arduous university quiz rather than the latest popular music record from an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Split into 4 separate parts and performed in thirteen tongues, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged opus investigating female mystique, religious ascent, and bodily change, frequently via the prism of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme treated with raw openness on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward on this record, carried by the constant presence of a full orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer within an extensive roll call of contributors. Its sheer ambition alone renders the work of contemporary artists look quite small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to avoid dry academic posturing feels nothing short of miraculous, with sole credit belonging to Rosalía. While this is not the first time project to alchemize the past and modern styles, the scale are far higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. The element that truly elevates her fourth album, beyond its complex melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be a core spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's voice which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. Even when she is breaking hearts in two, you still desire to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This playful spirit comes forth brightly on the stirring piano-led song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool for several minutes. Then, everything falls silent, and there's a spontaneous giggle and a declaration prior to a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo crashes down like cartoonish force. The song then shifts into the wild track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic with Lux is that the listener rarely quite know—nor want to predict—what it will go to next."
Almost each song finishes at a totally different point from where it started. One moment examines the transient trappings of fame with a delicate orchestration before disintegrating in electronic chaos. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic style starts out moody and brooding, with prowling beats, until fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Experiment & Pop
A key achievement on the album is navigating the line of radical experimentation and broad appeal. It is no coincidence that the album has become her first release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a suite of truly undeniable hits. A song sung primarily in the English language swells around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly nagging hooks while it spirals upward. That trick gets echoed on a different expansive track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple melodies as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused number charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp edge, like a storybook character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
Lux represents popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry grasp for high artistry in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully controls its own built-in excess. This is a deep well of buried gems that requires patience to fully mine but never feels like hard work. While some big releases of 2025 felt like a meager scraps, Lux is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at the table, some tipsy on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly endlessly creative visionary.
