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On the surface, this work might appear closer to a challenging university challenge than a new popular music album from a musician who just had a last single was a collaboration with a global K-pop star. Divided into four distinct sections and voiced in 13 languages, this is a breathtaking symphonic work investigating female mystique, religious ascent, and bodily transformation, often through the perspective of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is launched upwards here, supported by the lush sound of a major symphony orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer within an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure daring by itself renders the efforts of contemporary artists seem quite laughable.

Transcending Academic Pretense

That this album manages to escape dry academic chin-stroking is almost miraculous, and full credit going to Rosalía. Although this is not the first time album to blend the past and modern styles, its stakes are far greater on Lux, with the balancing act far more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth album, outside of its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, proves to be a core spirit of joy. Much like the legendary artist at her peak, there is a captivating quality to Rosalía's singing that pulls you into its tornado. Even when she's breaking your heart in two, you nevertheless want to stay right there through the journey.

A Signature Example of Joy

That playful energy comes forth clearly during a stunning piano-led song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool over several minutes. Then, everything falls away, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh and a declaration prior to a comically exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes down with cartoonish force. The song then segues to the frenetic single featuring racing strings, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.

"The charm with this album is that you never quite understand—nor wish to know—what you will go next."

Nearly each song finishes in a totally distinct point from where it started. A track examines the transient nature of fame over a featherlight symphony before collapsing into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls her previous trap-infused work begins out dark and sinister, featuring menacing beats, until sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to soften the song's jagged edges.

The Bridge Between Experiment and Pop

A key achievement on the album is navigating the gap between bold experimentation and mainstream accessibility. This is little coincidence that the album has achieved the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: its heart contains a collection of truly undeniable pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language swells around a refrain that feels to collect more and more nagging melodies while it spirals skyward. This trick gets repeated by a different expansive ballad that expands and constricts, weaving multiple tunes like a complex tapestry.

• A dance-infused number charms with its jaunty, theatrical flair and a chant-along chorus.
• In its words, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting an ex- lover described as an "psychological terrorist".
• Throughout the album, the singing carry a painted-on smile, akin to a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of disappointment."

A Maximalist Feast for the Ears

This album represents popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art in an era of impending artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism for sublime elevation, creating a dramatic spectacle that skillfully controls its own inherent excess. This is an abundant well of hidden treasure that takes patience to fully mine but never seem like a chore. Where some big releases of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux is a lavish feast where the guests around it, some intoxicated on sacred drink, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and common stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most endlessly creative practitioner.