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Initially, this album may look closer to a difficult academic examination rather than the latest popular music album by an artist whose previous single was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Split across 4 separate sections and performed in 13 languages, this is a dizzying symphonic work exploring feminine mystery, spiritual ascent, and bodily change, often via the prism of different women saints. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—soars skyward here, carried by the constant presence of a full orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long roll call of collaborators. The pure ambition by itself makes the work of other artists appear quite modest.

Transcending Academic Exercise

The fact that this album manages to escape overly intellectual posturing is nearly miraculous, and sole praise belonging to Rosalía. Although it's not the first time project to fuse historical sounds and the present, its stakes are much greater on Lux, and the balancing act far more pronounced. What truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is an essential sense of joy. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a captivating sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls you into its tornado. Even when she's breaking your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to stay alongside her for the journey.

A Prime Moment of Exuberance

This playful spirit comes forth brightly on the stunning piano-led ballad about a saint. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for more than four moments. Then, everything drops silent, and there's a gleeful laugh followed by a declaration before a hilariously exaggerated string surge crashes down with cartoonish force. The song then segues into the frenetic single driven by racing orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a cameo role from the artist herself.

"The magic of Lux lies in the listener never quite know—or even want to know—what it is going to next."

Nearly each song ends in a completely distinct place than where it began. One moment explores the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight symphony only to collapsing into electronic chaos. Another, a cut echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused style starts off dark and brooding, with menacing beats, before sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to smooth the song's jagged corners.

The Bridge Between Art and Accessibility

Another crucial balancing act on the album is navigating the line of radical innovation and broad accessibility. This is no surprise that the album has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to break into the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track performed entirely in the English language builds on a chorus that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies as it spirals upward. That feat is repeated by a different powerful track that grows and constricts, weaving layered tunes as an intricate tapestry.

• A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
• Lyrically, it aligns the cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
• Across the album, the vocals have a painted-on edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of disappointment."

An Opulent Banquet for the Ears

Lux is pop on a grand scale, an ambitious grasp for high Art in an era of impending AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its own built-in excess. It is an abundant source of hidden gems that requires patience to fully explore but never seem like hard work. Where some major pop albums of the year felt like a meager scraps, this record is a lavish banquet at which the characters at the table, some tipsy on holy drink, flit between discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.