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Initially, this work could seem more like an arduous academic quiz rather than the latest popular music project by a musician who just had a previous single featured an international pop icon. Broken across 4 distinct movements and sung in 13 tongues, we have a head-spinning symphonic work exploring feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and physical change, frequently by way of the lens of different women saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is launched upwards on this record, carried by the lush sound of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter within a vast list of contributors. Its sheer daring alone renders the work of contemporary pop stars appear rather modest.

Rising Above Academic Exercise

The fact that Lux manages to escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of miraculous, with full praise going to Rosalía. While it's not her first project to fuse historical sounds with modern styles, its stakes feel much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more dramatic. What truly raises her fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of joy. Much like the legendary artist at her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls you up in its tornado. Even when she's tearing your heart apart, you nevertheless desire to stay right there for the journey.

A Prime Moment of Joy

This playful energy comes forth clearly during the stirring piano-led song about a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool for more than four moments. Suddenly, everything drops silent, and we hear a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge crashes in like comedic force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic single driven by racing strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from the artist Björk.

"The charm with this album is that the listener never quite know—or even wish to know—what it is going to next."

Almost every track finishes in a completely different place than how it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity with a delicate symphony only to disintegrating in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her previous trap-infused style begins out dark and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its jagged edges.

The Bridge Of Experiment & Pop

Another crucial achievement on Lux involves straddling the gap of radical innovation and broad appeal. This is no surprise that it has become the artist's highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of key markets: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. A song performed primarily in English builds on a refrain that seems to collect increasingly infectious hooks as it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed on another expansive track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate weave.

• A waltz-like number seduces via its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along hook.
• In its words, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating a former partner described as an "emotional bully".
• Throughout the album, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, akin to a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."

An Opulent Feast for the Soul

Lux represents popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for high Art amid of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of buried treasure that requires time to completely mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While other big pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a lavish banquet where the characters at it, some intoxicated on holy wine, flutter from conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and common gossip about hopeless men. It is a modern-day musical from music's most restlessly creative visionary.