On the surface, Lux may look more like a difficult university challenge rather than a new pop project by an artist who just had a last hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Split across four distinct parts and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work investigating female mystery, religious ascent, and bodily transformation, frequently via the lens of different women saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with raw openness elsewhere—is shot upwards here, carried by the constant presence of a full orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long list of contributors. The pure audacity by itself renders the work of other pop stars look quite modest.
Transcending Academic Exercise
That Lux succeeds in transcend overly academic chin-stroking feels almost a miracle, with sole praise belonging to Rosalía. Although this is not her first album to alchemize historical sounds and the present, the scale are much greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk more precarious. What really raises her fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, is a core spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic artist during her height, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's voice that pulls the listener up in its tornado. Even when she's tearing your heart apart, you still want to stay right there through the ride.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful energy comes forth clearly during a stunning piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for several moments. Then, all the music falls away, and we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a hilariously exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes in like comedic force. The song immediately segues into the frenetic track driven by galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The magic with Lux is that you rarely quite understand—nor wish to know—where it is going next."
Almost each track finishes in a totally distinct place than where it began. A track explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a featherlight symphony only to disintegrating into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused style begins out dark and sinister, with menacing beats, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its rough edges.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
A key balancing act of Lux is straddling the gap of bold experimentation and mainstream accessibility. This is little coincidence that the album has become her highest-charting release to break into the upper reaches of major markets: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song performed primarily in English builds around a chorus that seems to collect increasingly infectious hooks as it spins skyward. That trick is echoed on a different powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving layered melodies as an intricate weave.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its playful, theatrical flair and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture honesty of other heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a sharp edge, akin to a storybook character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art amid of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top drama that skillfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep well of buried treasure that takes patience to completely explore but doesn't seem like hard work. While other big releases of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous banquet where the characters around the table, some tipsy on sacred drink, flit between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about useless men. It is a modern-day musical from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
