Initially, this album may look more like a difficult university challenge than a new pop record from a musician whose last single was a collaboration with an international pop star. Divided across 4 different sections and voiced in thirteen languages, this is a dizzying symphonic work exploring feminine mystique, religious ascent, and corporal change, frequently by way of the perspective of different female saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter within a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity by itself renders the efforts of other artists look rather laughable.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
The fact that Lux succeeds in transcend overly intellectual posturing is almost a miracle, with sole credit going to Rosalía. While this is not her first album to alchemize historical sounds and modern styles, the ambitions feel much greater on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more pronounced. The element that really elevates this fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk during her height, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's singing which sweeps you into its tornado. When she's breaking your heart apart, you still desire to be alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful spirit comes forth brightly during the stirring piano-led ballad inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a declaration prior to a comically exaggerated orchestral crescendo thuds in with cartoonish force. The song then shifts to the wild track featuring racing strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The charm with this album lies in you never quite know—or even wish to know—where you will go to next."
Almost each track finishes at a completely different place from where it began. A track explores the fleeting nature of celebrity over a delicate orchestration before disintegrating into electronic cacophony. Another, a song echoing the artist's previous rhythmic work starts out dark and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, before sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir enter to soften its jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment and Accessibility
A key balancing act on Lux is navigating the line of radical experimentation and broad accessibility. This is no coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first work to crack the Top 5 of key markets: at its core a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track sung entirely in English builds around a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging hooks while it spirals upward. This feat is echoed by another expansive track that expands and contracts, intertwining layered tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A waltz-like number charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares the cultural impact of other breakup anthems, eviscerating an ex- lover described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Ears
This album is popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for capital-A artistry amid of looming artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime transcendence, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. It is an abundant source of buried gems that requires time to completely explore but never seem like hard work. While some big pop albums of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux is a sumptuous feast where the characters around it, some tipsy on sacred drink, flit between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
