Initially, this work could seem more like a difficult university examination than the latest popular music record from an artist whose last single was a collaboration with a global pop icon. Broken across 4 separate parts and performed in 13 languages, this is a dizzying orchestral-influenced opus investigating female mystique, religious ascent, and bodily transformation, often through the prism of different female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a topic handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward here, supported by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a long roll call of collaborators. Its sheer daring alone renders the efforts of contemporary artists appear quite laughable.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
The fact that Lux manages to escape overly intellectual chin-stroking feels almost miraculous, and complete praise belonging to the artist. Although this is not her first album to alchemize the past with the present, its scale feel far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk more pronounced. What really raises her fourth album, outside of its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and inherent drama, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Similar to the legendary artist during her peak, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking hearts apart, you nevertheless want to stay alongside her for the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That exuberant energy comes forth clearly during a stunning piano-led song about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over several moments. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, and there's a gleeful laugh and a comment before a hilariously over-the-top string surge crashes down like comedic force. The track immediately shifts into the wild track featuring galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic of Lux lies in the listener never quite know—or even want to know—what you will go to next."
Almost each track ends at a completely different place from where it began. One moment examines the transient trappings of celebrity with a delicate orchestration only to collapsing in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic work starts off dark and brooding, with menacing beats, before fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's rough edges.
The Balance Of Art and Pop
A key balancing act on the album involves straddling the gap between bold experimentation and mainstream accessibility. This is no surprise that the album has achieved her highest-charting work to crack the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track sung primarily in English builds on a refrain that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spirals upward. That feat gets echoed on a different powerful ballad that expands and constricts, weaving layered tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, akin to a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
This album represents pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for high Art amid of looming artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried gems that requires patience to completely explore but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other big releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the characters around the table, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter between discussions about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless partners. It is a contemporary musical from music's most restlessly inventive visionary.
