On the surface, this album may look closer to a challenging university quiz rather than a new pop album from an artist whose previous single featured a global pop icon. Split across four separate sections and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced opus investigating feminine mystique, religious ascent, and physical transformation, frequently through the lens of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—is shot upwards here, supported by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter within a long list of contributors. The pure daring alone makes the efforts of other pop stars look quite laughable.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
The fact that this album manages to escape overly intellectual posturing is almost miraculous, and sole credit going to the artist. While this is not the first time album to alchemize the past with the present, its stakes are far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. The element that truly raises this fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing your heart in two, the listener still desire to be alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Moment of Joy
This exuberant spirit shines brightly on a stirring piano-led ballad about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, all the music falls silent, and we hear a spontaneous laugh followed by a declaration prior to a hilariously exaggerated string surge thuds in with comedic force. The song then segues into the frenetic single featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from the artist Björk.
"The magic with Lux lies in the listener never exactly know—or even want to know—where it is going to next."
Nearly each track concludes in a completely different point than where it started. A track explores the transient nature of celebrity with a delicate orchestration before collapsing in digital chaos. Another, a cut that recalls her earlier rhythmic style starts out dark and brooding, with prowling vocals, before sudden traditional handclaps and an angelic choir enter to smooth its rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on the album is straddling the gap between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. It is little coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of major markets: at its core a collection of truly undeniable hits. A song sung primarily in English builds around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly infectious melodies while it spins upward. That feat gets repeated on a different expansive ballad that expands and contracts, weaving multiple tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of other heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former partner described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album is popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for high artistry amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried gems that takes patience to fully explore but doesn't seem like hard work. Where other major pop albums of 2025 seemed like a meager meal, this record offers a sumptuous feast at which the guests at it, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter between discussions about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from pop's most restlessly creative practitioner.
