On the surface, this album might appear more like an arduous university examination than a new pop album by an artist who just had a last single was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Broken across four different movements and voiced in 13 languages, we have a dizzying classical-tinged album investigating female mystery, spiritual ascent, and bodily transformation, frequently via the prism of various female saints. The end of a romance—a theme handled with raw openness elsewhere—is launched upwards on this record, buoyed by the constant sound of a full orchestra and work from an award-winning composer among a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity alone renders the work of contemporary artists seem rather laughable.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That this album succeeds in avoid overly academic chin-stroking feels nothing short of miraculous, with complete credit going to Rosalía. While this is not her first project to alchemize historical sounds and the present, its ambitions feel far higher on Lux, with the tightrope walk far more dramatic. What really elevates her fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential spirit of fun. Much like the iconic artist during her peak, there is a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls the listener up in its tornado. Even when she is tearing hearts in two, you nevertheless desire to be right there through the journey.
A Signature Example of Joy
This exuberant spirit comes forth brightly on a stunning piano-led ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy over several moments. Suddenly, all the music drops away, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a comically over-the-top string crescendo thuds down like comedic impact. The song immediately segues to the frenetic track driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from the artist herself.
"The charm with this album is that the listener never quite know—nor wish to predict—where you will go next."
Nearly every song concludes in a completely different place from where it began. One moment examines the transient trappings of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing in digital cacophony. Another, a cut echoing the artist's previous trap-infused work begins off dark and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, before sudden flamenco handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth its jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Art & Pop
A key achievement on Lux involves straddling the gap of radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is little surprise that the album has become her highest-charting release to crack the Top 5 of major markets: at its core a suite of truly catchy pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language builds on a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging hooks while it spirals skyward. This trick gets repeated on a different expansive track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture honesty of other heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp edge, akin to a storybook character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry reach for high Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. It is an abundant source of buried treasure that requires time to fully mine but never seem like hard work. While some major pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, Lux offers a lavish banquet where the characters around the table, some intoxicated on holy wine, flit from discussions about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless men. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.
