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Initially, this work may look more like a difficult scholarly challenge than a new pop record by a musician who just had a previous single was a collaboration with a global pop star. Split across 4 different sections and voiced in 13 languages, this is a breathtaking classical-tinged work exploring female mystery, religious ascent, and corporal transformation, often via the perspective of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—soars upwards here, carried by the constant sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long list of collaborators. The pure ambition alone makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars appear rather laughable.

Rising Above Scholarly Pretense

The fact that this album manages to avoid dry intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of a miracle, with sole credit belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not her first album to fuse the past with the present, the scale are much higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that truly raises this fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and inherent drama, is a core spirit of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk during her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps you into its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking hearts in two, the listener still want to stay right there through the ride.

A Signature Moment of Exuberance

This exuberant spirit comes forth brightly during the stunning Italian song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for several moments. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes down like cartoonish force. The song immediately segues to the frenetic track featuring galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.

"The charm of this album is that you never quite understand—or even wish to predict—what you will go next."

Almost each track ends in a totally different place than how it started. One moment explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration only to disintegrating into digital cacophony. Another, a song that recalls her previous trap-infused style begins out moody and brooding, with prowling beats, before sudden flamenco handclaps and a heavenly choir enter to soften the song's rough corners.

The Balance Between Experiment and Accessibility

A key balancing act of the album involves straddling the gap between radical innovation and mainstream appeal. It is little coincidence that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy hits. One track sung entirely in the English language swells around a chorus that feels to collect increasingly nagging hooks as it spins upward. This trick gets echoed on another expansive ballad that grows and constricts, weaving multiple tunes like an intricate tapestry.

• A dance-infused song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
• Lyrically, it shares with cultural impact of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
• Throughout these tracks, the singing have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of letdown."

A Maximalist Feast for the Soul

Lux represents popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for high Art amid of impending artificial blankness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime elevation, crafting a dramatic drama that skillfully manages its own built-in excess. It is an abundant source of hidden treasure that requires patience to fully mine but never seem like a chore. While some big pop albums of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record offers a sumptuous banquet at which the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flutter between discussions about ancient figures, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about hopeless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most restlessly inventive practitioner.