Dropping November 7, LUX arrived as Rosalía‘s latest full-length, the Spanish trailblazer’s fourth entry in a catalog that’s steadily rewritten pop’s rulebook. She first cracked the code with Los Ángeles and El Mal Querer, injecting flamenco’s fire into mainstream veins and then splintering its conventions to weave in urban grit and pop precision. MOTOMAMI followed in 2022, a humid, high-wire act of Caribbean beats and fearless experimentation that solidified her as the go-to for genre raids. At 33, Rosalía now steers LUX through uncharted turf: a four-part orchestral pop voyage in 13 tongues, from Ukrainian to Italian, wrestling with faith, romance, and reinvention. The lineup boasts the London Symphony Orchestra, local Catalan ensembles, longtime hands Noah Goldstein and Dylan Wiggins, beatmaker Pharrell, plus string masters Caroline Shaw and Angélica Negrón. Drawing from saints’ tales—Teresa de Jesus, Sun Bu’er, Hildegard Von Bingen—and feminist reads amid her Euphoria screen debut prep, she processes a 2023 breakup with Rauw Alejandro into themes of surrender and survival. It’s pop with pedigree, less a party starter than a deep-dive dispatch for those chasing substance in the stream.
The album’s sequence maps an inner odyssey, kicking off with ‘Sexo, Violencia, y Llantas’ vow to orbit earth and ether, backed by thunderous arrangements. Standout ‘La Perla’ marches through relational wreckage in waltz time, branding exes as “red flag andante” in a precision strike that rivals Fiona Apple‘s bite. At the same time, ‘Novia Robot’ mocks commodified affection by generating conversations about the consumption of female beauty by men, and ‘De Madrugá’ hurtles past grudges like a targeted comet. The finale shrinks the scope for bigger impact: ‘Memória’ tallies the toll, and ‘Magnolia’ exhales gratitude for the cuts, circling back to that initial ascent with hard-won poise.
What sets LUX apart in Rosalía‘s previous releases is its refusal to simplify—it’s pop that borrows from oratorios and oracles. Her delivery keeps it human, threading obsession and absolution across borders without gimmick. Post-MOTOMAMI, this feels like Rosalía claiming the director’s chair, inviting listeners to unpack divinity’s messier side. Amid the glut of disposable and microwavable releases, Lux stands as essential listening for dissecting the divine balance of desire.
Stream LUX:
Social Media