At first glance, this album may look more like a challenging academic challenge rather than the latest popular music record from an artist who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Broken across 4 separate movements and voiced in thirteen languages, it is a dizzying symphonic work exploring female mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal transformation, often via the prism of various female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—soars upwards on this record, supported by the lush sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among an extensive list of contributors. The pure ambition alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists look rather laughable.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That this album succeeds in avoid dry academic posturing is almost miraculous, and complete credit going to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to fuse the past with the present, its stakes feel much greater here, with the tightrope walk far more precarious. What truly elevates this fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is a core sense of fun. Much like the iconic Björk at her height, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking hearts apart, you still desire to be alongside her through the ride.
A Signature Example of Exuberance
That exuberant energy comes forth brightly on the stirring Italian ballad inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four moments. Then, everything falls silent, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a declaration before a comically over-the-top orchestral surge crashes in like comedic force. The song then shifts into the frenetic track driven by galloping strings, an imposing choral group, and a cameo appearance from the artist Björk.
"The magic of Lux lies in you never quite understand—nor want to know—where you will go to next."
Almost every song finishes at a completely distinct place than where it began. A track explores the fleeting nature of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration before disintegrating in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused style begins off moody and brooding, with prowling vocals, before sudden flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus enter to smooth the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Of Experiment & Pop
A key achievement of Lux involves navigating the line of radical experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has achieved the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of truly catchy pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds on a chorus that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spins skyward. This feat is repeated on another expansive track that grows and constricts, weaving multiple melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms with its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture honesty of other heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
Lux is popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for capital-A artistry amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects self-absorption for glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its built-in excess. It is an abundant well of hidden gems that requires patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While some major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a lavish feast where the guests at the table, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter from discussions about historical figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
