On the surface, this album may look more like an arduous academic challenge than the latest popular music album by a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with a global pop star. Split into 4 separate sections and voiced in thirteen languages, we have a dizzying orchestral-influenced album that delves into female mystique, religious ascent, and bodily change, frequently by way of the prism of various female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic treated with raw honesty elsewhere—is launched skyward here, carried by the constant presence of a major orchestra and input from an award-winning composer within a long roll call of contributors. The pure ambition by itself makes the efforts of other artists look quite modest.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
The fact that Lux succeeds in avoid dry intellectual chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, with full praise going to Rosalía. While this is not her first album to alchemize historical sounds with modern styles, the ambitions are much greater here, and the balancing act more precarious. The element that really elevates this fourth album, outside of its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk during her peak, there is a wondrous quality to the vocalist's singing that pulls the listener into its tornado. When she is tearing hearts apart, the listener still want to be right there for the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
That exuberant energy comes forth clearly during a stirring Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool over several moments. Suddenly, all the music drops away, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh and a comment before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down like comedic force. The song then segues into the wild single featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm of Lux is that you rarely exactly understand—nor want to predict—what it will go next."
Nearly each song concludes at a totally different point than where it began. A track examines the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a delicate symphony only to collapsing in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's previous trap-infused work starts off moody and sinister, featuring menacing beats, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus arrive to soften its jagged edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Accessibility
A key balancing act on the album involves navigating the line between radical innovation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. A song sung entirely in the English language swells around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly nagging hooks as it spirals upward. That trick gets echoed on a different expansive track that expands and contracts, weaving layered melodies as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic hook.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture impact of other heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook character hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album is popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A artistry in an era of looming artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried gems that takes time to completely explore but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other big releases of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record is a lavish banquet where the guests around it, some tipsy on holy wine, flit between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
