Initially, Lux may look more like a difficult university challenge than the latest pop album by an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international pop star. Split into four distinct sections and sung in 13 languages, we have a dizzying classical-tinged album that delves into feminine mystique, spiritual transcendence, and corporal transformation, frequently by way of the lens of various saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a topic treated with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward here, buoyed by the lush sound of a full orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long roll call of contributors. The pure audacity alone renders the efforts of other artists seem quite small.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That Lux manages to escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is nearly miraculous, and full praise belonging to the artist. While it's not her first project to fuse historical sounds and the present, its stakes are much greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. What really elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, is an essential sense of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk at her height, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing your heart apart, you nevertheless want to stay alongside her through the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
This playful spirit shines brightly during a stirring piano-led ballad inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, and we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a declaration prior to a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo thuds down with cartoonish impact. The song then shifts to the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm with this album is that the listener never exactly understand—or even wish to predict—what it will go to next."
Almost each song ends in a totally different place from how it began. A track explores the fleeting nature of fame with a delicate symphony before collapsing in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's previous rhythmic work begins off dark and brooding, with prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to smooth its jagged edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Pop
A key achievement of Lux involves straddling the line between radical innovation and mainstream appeal. It is little surprise that the album has become her first release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy pop songs. A song sung entirely in the English language builds on a refrain that seems to gather increasingly nagging hooks while it spins upward. That feat is echoed on another powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining layered tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album represents pop on a grand scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art amid of impending artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its own inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried treasure that requires time to fully explore but doesn't seem like a chore. While some big releases of 2025 felt like a meager meal, Lux offers a lavish banquet at which the guests around it, perhaps intoxicated on sacred drink, flit between discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
