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Initially, this album could seem closer to a difficult university quiz rather than the latest popular music album by an artist whose last single was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Split into four different movements and voiced in 13 languages, this is a dizzying orchestral-influenced album investigating feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and physical change, frequently through the perspective of different saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a topic treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—soars skyward here, carried by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of contributors. Its sheer ambition alone makes the work of other pop stars seem rather small.

Rising Above Academic Exercise

The fact that this album manages to escape dry academic chin-stroking is nothing short of a miracle, with complete praise belonging to the artist. While it's not her first album to alchemize historical sounds and modern styles, the scale feel much higher here, and the balancing act more precarious. The element that really elevates her fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, dense compositions, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of playfulness. Much like the iconic Björk at her height, there is a wondrous quality to Rosalía's voice which sweeps you into its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart in two, you nevertheless want to be right there through the journey.

A Prime Example of Joy

This exuberant spirit shines brightly during the stirring Italian song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy over several minutes. Then, everything drops away, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh and a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo thuds in with cartoonish force. The song then shifts into the frenetic single featuring racing strings, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from the artist herself.

"The charm with Lux lies in you rarely exactly know—nor want to know—what you will go next."

Almost each track finishes in a completely different point from how it began. One moment explores the transient trappings of fame with a featherlight orchestration before disintegrating in electronic cacophony. Another, a song echoing her earlier rhythmic work begins out moody and sinister, with menacing beats, until fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic choir enter to smooth its rough edges.

The Bridge Of Experiment and Accessibility

Another crucial balancing act of Lux is straddling the line of radical innovation and broad appeal. This is no surprise that it has become the artist's highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a collection of truly catchy hits. One track performed entirely in English swells around a chorus that seems to collect more and more nagging hooks as it spins skyward. That feat gets echoed on a different expansive ballad that grows and contracts, weaving layered tunes like a complex weave.

• A waltz-like song seduces with its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
• Lyrically, it shares the pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological bully".
• Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a sharp edge, akin to a storybook character hiding a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."

A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul

This album represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully manages its inherent excess. It is a deep well of hidden gems that takes time to fully mine but doesn't seem like hard work. While some major releases of 2025 felt like a meager meal, Lux is a lavish feast where the characters around it, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flit between discussions about ancient saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared stories about useless partners. It is a modern-day theatrical production from music's most endlessly inventive visionary.