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On the surface, Lux might appear more like a difficult scholarly challenge than the latest pop album by a musician who just had a previous single was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Divided across four separate sections and sung in thirteen languages, this is a breathtaking symphonic work exploring feminine mystery, religious transcendence, and bodily transformation, frequently by way of the perspective of different female saints. The end of a relationship—a topic treated with grounded openness on another major 2025 album—is shot skyward here, carried by the lush presence of a major orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long roll call of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone makes the work of other artists look quite small.

Transcending Academic Exercise

That this album manages to escape overly academic posturing feels nothing short of a miracle, and full credit going to the artist. While this is not her first project to fuse the past with the present, its stakes feel much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more dramatic. The element that really raises this fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, is a core sense of joy. Much like the iconic artist during her height, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's voice that pulls you up in its tornado. Even when she's tearing your heart in two, the listener still desire to stay alongside her through the journey.

A Prime Moment of Joy

That exuberant spirit comes forth brightly on the stunning Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four moments. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a comment before a comically over-the-top orchestral crescendo thuds down like cartoonish impact. The song immediately segues into the wild single driven by racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from the artist herself.

"The magic with this album is that the listener rarely quite know—or even want to know—where it is going next."

Nearly each song ends at a completely distinct place from how it began. One moment explores the fleeting nature of fame with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's previous rhythmic style begins out dark and sinister, featuring prowling beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to soften its jagged edges.

The Balance Between Experiment & Pop

Another crucial achievement of Lux involves straddling the line between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. It is no surprise that it has achieved the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track performed primarily in the English language swells around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly nagging melodies while it spirals upward. That trick is repeated by another expansive ballad that grows and contracts, weaving layered melodies as a complex tapestry.

• A dance-infused song seduces with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
• In its words, it aligns with pop culture impact of other breakup songs, eviscerating an ex- partner described as an "psychological bully".
• Throughout these tracks, the singing have a sharp smile, akin to a storybook character concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."

An Opulent Feast for the Soul

Lux represents pop on a maximalist level, an ambitious reach for high artistry in an era of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully manages its inherent excess. It is a deep source of buried treasure that takes patience to fully mine but never seem like a chore. Where other big pop albums of 2025 felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a lavish banquet at which the characters around it, some tipsy on holy wine, flit from conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and common gossip about useless partners. It is a modern-day musical from music's truly restlessly creative practitioner.