At first glance, this work might appear more like a challenging academic challenge than the latest popular music album from a musician who just had a previous hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Split across 4 different sections and sung in 13 tongues, we have a head-spinning symphonic work exploring female mystique, religious transcendence, and physical change, often through the prism of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme treated with raw honesty elsewhere—soars upwards here, buoyed by the constant presence of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast list of contributors. The pure audacity alone makes the efforts of contemporary artists seem quite modest.
Rising Above Academic Exercise
That Lux succeeds in transcend overly intellectual chin-stroking feels nearly miraculous, and complete praise going to Rosalía. Although it's not her first album to alchemize the past and the present, the scale feel much greater here, and the balancing act far more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth release, outside of its multilayered tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, is an essential sense of joy. Much like the legendary artist during her peak, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice that pulls you up in its tornado. Even when she's breaking hearts in two, you still desire to be alongside her through the journey.
A Signature Moment of Exuberance
That exuberant energy shines brightly during a stirring Italian ballad inspired by a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool over several minutes. Then, all the music falls silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous giggle and a declaration before a comically exaggerated string crescendo crashes in like cartoonish force. The song immediately segues to the frenetic single featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The charm with this album lies in the listener never quite know—nor wish to know—what it will go next."
Almost each track ends in a completely distinct place than how it began. One moment examines the fleeting trappings of celebrity over a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into electronic cacophony. Another, a cut echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic style starts out moody and brooding, with menacing beats, before sudden flamenco handclaps and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act of the album is straddling the gap between bold experimentation and broad appeal. It is no surprise that the album has become the artist's highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track sung primarily in English swells around a chorus that feels to gather more and more infectious hooks as it spins upward. This trick gets repeated by a different powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces with its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former partner described as an "psychological terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a sharp edge, like a storybook character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a grand scale, a hungry reach for high Art amid of looming artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, crafting a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep source of hidden treasure that takes time to completely explore but doesn't feels like hard work. Where some major releases of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a lavish feast where the characters around it, some tipsy on sacred drink, flit from conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
