On the surface, this work could seem closer to a difficult university quiz than the latest pop album by an artist whose last single featured an international pop star. Broken into four separate parts and performed in thirteen languages, it is a breathtaking orchestral-influenced album that delves into female mystique, religious transcendence, and bodily transformation, often by way of the lens of different female saints. The end of a romance—a theme treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—is launched heavenward on this record, carried by the lush presence of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning songwriter within an extensive list of contributors. The pure audacity alone renders the work of contemporary artists look quite small.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape dry intellectual chin-stroking is nearly a miracle, with complete credit belonging to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to blend historical sounds and the present, the ambitions are much higher here, and the balancing act more pronounced. What truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of fun. Much like the legendary Björk during her peak, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's singing that pulls the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she is tearing your heart apart, the listener nevertheless desire to be right there through the ride.
A Signature Example of Joy
This playful spirit comes forth brightly during a stirring piano-led song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four minutes. Then, everything falls silent, to reveal there's a gleeful giggle and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated orchestral crescendo thuds in like cartoonish impact. The song then shifts to the wild track driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The charm of Lux is that the listener never quite understand—nor wish to predict—where you will go to next."
Almost each song finishes at a totally distinct point from how it started. A track examines the transient nature of fame over a delicate symphony before disintegrating in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls her previous rhythmic work starts out moody and brooding, with menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic choir arrive to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Balance Between Art and Accessibility
A key balancing act on Lux involves navigating the gap of bold experimentation and broad appeal. It is little coincidence that it has become the artist's first work to crack the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track performed entirely in the English language builds on a chorus that feels to collect more and more nagging hooks while it spins upward. That trick gets echoed by a different powerful track that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies as an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms with its jaunty, theatrical flair and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the cultural honesty of other breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
Lux represents pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for capital-A Art in an era of looming artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried gems that requires patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like a chore. While other major releases of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests around the table, perhaps tipsy on holy drink, flit from conversations about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about hopeless partners. It is a contemporary musical from music's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
