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At first glance, this album could seem more like a difficult university examination than the latest popular music project by an artist who just had a last single featured an international pop star. Divided into four separate sections and sung in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking symphonic work investigating female mystique, religious ascent, and corporal transformation, frequently through the perspective of various saintly figures. The end of a love affair—a topic handled with raw honesty on another major 2025 album—soars skyward on this record, supported by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter within a long list of contributors. The pure daring by itself renders the efforts of other artists appear quite modest.

Transcending Academic Pretense

That this album manages to avoid dry intellectual posturing feels almost miraculous, with complete credit belonging to the artist. Although this is not her first album to alchemize historical sounds with the present, the scale feel much greater on Lux, and the balancing act more pronounced. The element that really raises her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps the listener up in its tornado. When she is tearing your heart apart, you nevertheless want to be alongside her through the journey.

A Prime Moment of Joy

That playful spirit comes forth brightly during the stirring piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over several moments. Suddenly, everything drops away, and we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top string surge thuds down with cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts to the frenetic single featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise appearance from the artist herself.

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

Nearly each track finishes in a completely different place than where it began. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity over a delicate orchestration before collapsing in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's previous trap-infused work begins off moody and brooding, with prowling beats, until sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to soften the song's jagged corners.

The Bridge Between Art & Accessibility

Another crucial achievement on the album is straddling the gap of bold experimentation and broad appeal. It is little surprise that the album has become the artist's highest-charting work to crack the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy hits. A song performed primarily in the English language builds around a chorus that feels to collect more and more infectious melodies while it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed by another powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining layered melodies like an intricate weave.

• A dance-infused number seduces with its playful, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
• In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
• Across these tracks, the singing carry a painted-on smile, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."

A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul

This album represents pop on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for high artistry in an era of impending artificial blankness. It rejects self-absorption for glorious elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of buried treasure that requires time to fully mine but never feels like hard work. While some big releases of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux is a lavish banquet where the characters at it, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flit from conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking grief, and common stories about hopeless men. It is a contemporary musical from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.