At first glance, Lux might appear closer to a challenging scholarly quiz than a new popular music album from a musician whose previous hit featured a global K-pop star. Divided into four distinct sections and voiced in thirteen tongues, we have a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work investigating feminine mystique, religious transcendence, and bodily change, frequently through the perspective of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, carried by the lush sound of a major symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a vast list of collaborators. The pure ambition alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists look rather laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape dry academic chin-stroking is nearly a miracle, with complete praise going to the artist. While it's not the first time project to alchemize the past with modern styles, the ambitions feel much higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that really elevates this fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, is an essential sense of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her height, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's singing which sweeps you up in its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart apart, the listener still want to be right there through the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That exuberant energy shines clearly on the stunning piano-led ballad inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over several moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, and we hear a spontaneous laugh and a declaration prior to a comically over-the-top orchestral surge thuds in like cartoonish force. The song immediately segues into the wild single driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm of this album is that the listener rarely exactly know—or even want to know—what you will go next."
Almost each track finishes at a totally distinct place from where it began. A track explores the fleeting nature of fame with a delicate orchestration before disintegrating into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing her previous trap-infused work starts off dark and sinister, with menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its jagged corners.
The Bridge Of Art & Pop
A key achievement on the album involves navigating the gap between radical innovation and mainstream appeal. It is no surprise that the album has become her highest-charting work to break into the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds around a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging hooks as it spirals upward. That trick gets repeated on another powerful track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused song charms with its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the cultural honesty of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the singing carry a sharp edge, akin to a storybook character hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for high artistry amid of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. This is a deep source of buried treasure that takes time to completely explore but never feels like hard work. While some major releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous feast at which the characters around the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between conversations about ancient figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about hopeless partners. It is a contemporary musical from pop's truly restlessly inventive practitioner.
