On the surface, this album could seem more like a challenging scholarly challenge rather than a new popular music album from a musician whose last single was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Divided across 4 different movements and performed in 13 tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged work investigating feminine mystique, religious transcendence, and physical transformation, frequently via the perspective of various female saints. The end of a relationship—a theme treated with raw honesty elsewhere—soars skyward here, supported by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning composer within an extensive list of collaborators. The pure audacity alone makes the efforts of other artists appear quite modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album manages to transcend overly intellectual posturing is nothing short of miraculous, and sole praise belonging to the artist. While this is not her first project to blend historical sounds with modern styles, the ambitions feel far higher here, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that truly elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her height, you find a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. When she's breaking hearts apart, the listener nevertheless desire to be alongside her for the ride.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
That playful spirit shines brightly during the stunning Italian ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool for more than four minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a comically over-the-top string surge thuds in like cartoonish impact. The song then segues into the frenetic single driven by galloping strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The charm with Lux is that you never quite understand—or even want to know—what you is going to next."
Nearly each track concludes in a totally different place from how it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing in electronic chaos. Another, a song echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic style begins out moody and sinister, with menacing vocals, until fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Art & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of Lux involves navigating the line of bold experimentation and mainstream appeal. This is no coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of major markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy hits. A song sung entirely in the English language builds around a refrain that feels to collect more and more infectious hooks as it spins upward. This trick is echoed on another powerful ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals have a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a grand level, an ambitious grasp for high Art amid of looming artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully manages its own inherent excess. It is an abundant well of buried gems that requires time to completely explore but never seem like hard work. While some major pop albums of the year felt like feasting on meal, Lux offers a sumptuous feast where the guests around it, some tipsy on holy drink, flutter between discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
