On the surface, Lux may look closer to a difficult university challenge rather than a new pop project from an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Split across four different parts and voiced in 13 tongues, this is a head-spinning classical-tinged album exploring feminine mystique, spiritual ascent, and corporal change, frequently via the perspective of different female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—soars upwards here, supported by the constant sound of a full orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer among an extensive list of contributors. The pure audacity by itself renders the work of contemporary pop stars look quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Exercise
The fact that this album succeeds in transcend overly academic chin-stroking is almost a miracle, with sole praise going to Rosalía. While it's not her first album to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, the scale are far greater on Lux, and the balancing act far more dramatic. The element that truly raises her fourth album, outside of its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk during her peak, you find a wondrous quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she's tearing your heart in two, the listener still desire to be right there for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Exuberance
That exuberant energy shines clearly on a stirring piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything falls silent, and we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a declaration prior to a comically exaggerated string surge crashes down like cartoonish force. The song then shifts to the wild single driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The magic of this album is that the listener rarely quite understand—nor wish to know—where you is going next."
Almost every track finishes in a totally different point than how it started. A track explores the transient trappings of celebrity with a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts out dark and sinister, featuring menacing beats, before fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Art and Pop
Another crucial balancing act of the album involves navigating the gap between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is no surprise that the album has achieved her highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a collection of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds around a chorus that seems to gather increasingly infectious hooks as it spirals skyward. This feat is echoed by another powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving multiple melodies as an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number charms with its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural impact of other heartbreak songs, lambasting an ex- lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the singing carry a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
Lux represents popular music on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its inherent excess. This is a deep source of hidden treasure that requires patience to fully mine but doesn't feels like hard work. Where other major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, this record is a lavish feast at which the characters around the table, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common gossip about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
