Initially, this work might appear closer to a challenging academic examination rather than the latest popular music album from an artist who just had a previous hit featured a global pop star. Split into 4 separate parts and sung in thirteen tongues, this is a dizzying symphonic work exploring female mystique, spiritual ascent, and corporal change, frequently through the prism of different female saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with raw openness elsewhere—is launched upwards here, carried by the constant presence of a major orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter among a long roll call of collaborators. The pure audacity alone makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars appear rather small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in avoid dry intellectual posturing is nearly miraculous, with complete praise going to the artist. While this is not the first time project to blend the past and modern styles, its ambitions feel far higher on Lux, with the balancing act more dramatic. The element that truly raises her fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential sense of joy. Similar to the legendary artist during her height, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart in two, the listener still desire to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant energy comes forth clearly during the stunning piano-led song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy for several minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle followed by a declaration before a comically over-the-top string crescendo crashes in like comedic impact. The track immediately segues to the frenetic single driven by galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The magic with this album lies in the listener never quite know—nor wish to know—where it is going next."
Nearly each track concludes in a totally different point than how it began. A track explores the transient nature of celebrity over a delicate orchestration only to collapsing into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic style begins off moody and brooding, with menacing vocals, until sudden flamenco handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth its rough corners.
The Balance Of Experiment and Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on Lux involves straddling the gap between radical experimentation and mainstream accessibility. This is no coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first release to break into the upper reaches of major charts: at its core a collection of truly undeniable pop songs. A song sung entirely in English swells on a chorus that feels to gather more and more nagging hooks as it spirals skyward. This feat gets echoed on another powerful track that expands and constricts, weaving multiple melodies as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused song charms with its playful, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the singing carry a painted-on edge, akin to a fairy-tale character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
This album is pop on a maximalist level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial blankness. It eschews solipsism for glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top drama that masterfully controls its own inherent excess. This is an abundant source of hidden treasure that takes patience to fully mine but never feels like hard work. While other big pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, Lux is a lavish banquet at which the characters at it, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter from discussions about ancient figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day theatrical production from music's most endlessly inventive practitioner.
