Rosalía – ‘Lux’ Review: An Album Filled With Striking Range And Creativity

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Rosalía has always approached her work with a fearless imagination. On her 2017 debut album ‘Los Ángeles’, she took flamenco cantes that had existed for centuries and reimagined them for a modern world. Her next project, 2018’s ‘El Mal Querer’, which also served as her baccalaureate thesis, offered a contemporary interpretation of the Andalusian style while weaving in elements of pop and hip hop. In 2022, ‘Motomami’ pulled her toward Latin America, where she blended reggaeton and sharp electronic textures into a vision entirely her own.

Her fourth and newest album may be her boldest leap so far. ‘Lux’ does not just contain musical universes, it reaches toward entire celestial realms, connecting the physical world with whatever someone imagines heaven to be. The album finds the Spanish artist singing in 13 languages, including Japanese, Arabic, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Latin and Sicilian. She spent a full year studying her lyrics, beginning by running her instinctive writing through Google Translate and then collaborating closely with professional translators so every word sounded natural and fit the music. The concept was shaped by Rosalía diving into hagiographies, guided by stories of female saints and saint-like figures from different cultures around the world.

‘Lux’ is the kind of album that requests time and full attention, stretching across 18 tracks and an hour of music. Yet when you offer what it asks, the reward is tremendous. It is a breathtaking record, one that repeatedly stops you in place, sparks curiosity and invites you into an entirely new landscape, while still echoing pieces of her past work. “The more we are in the era of dopamine, the more I want the opposite,” she said on the New York Times’ Popcast podcast. The album reflects that intention. There are no easy hooks, no instant highs, no loops designed to trap your ear, and it feels even more transcendent because of that commitment.

Spirituality sits at the center of ‘Lux’. The album is filled with religious symbolism, from Rosalía wearing what appears to be a nun’s habit on the cover to the steady references woven throughout the lyrics. “Each vertebra reveals a mystery. Pray on my spine, it’s a rosary,” she sings in a striking falsetto over glowing strings and trembling percussion on ‘Divinize’. The opening track, ‘Sexo, Violencia y Llantas’, sets up two distinct worlds, one rooted in our messy reality of “Blood sports. Coins on throats” and another in a shimmering, mythical paradise of “Sparkles, pigeons and saints”. ‘Dios Es Un Stalker’, or ‘God Is A Stalker’, finds her playfully placing herself in the role of the divine figure, saying: “I’ve always been so spoiled. And worn out by all this omnipresence. But I’m gonna hijack this heart. I’m gonna stalk it and I’ll show no mercy”.

Rosalía makes daring choices throughout this album. ‘Mio Christo’, performed entirely in Italian, is her interpretation of an aria, with vocals that rise to emotional peaks before falling into soft quietude, always demonstrating remarkable control. ‘Novia Robot’, which includes Spanish, Mandarin and Hebrew lyrics, draws from the story of Taoist master Sun Bu’er, who disfigured herself with boiling oil so no man would be distracted by her appearance during an important journey from Shandong to Luoyang.

Rosalía uses that story as a way to explore the objectification of women and the part capitalism plays in keeping those ideas alive. “Every purchase comes with a warranty because our policy is conceived to make us look good and make you happy, no matter the cost!” she says in a biting spoken-word introduction. “We’re proud to be the most successful company in 2025, the one with the highest revenue and the business that harms our sisters the most.”

Although much of ‘Lux’ is undeniably beautiful, with the London Symphony Orchestra providing a stunning foundation beneath Rosalía’s emotional delivery, there are also moments filled with anger. ‘La Perla’, believed to reflect her past relationship with Rauw Alejandro, tears into an ex with a series of sharp, memorable lines. “Gold medal in being a motherfucker,” she sings gently over a sweet waltz. She dismisses the progress he claims to be making in therapy with: “But what’s it worth. If you lie more than you talk. They’ll build a monument. To your dishonesty”. One of the most cutting lines arrives later: “Loyalty. And fidelity. That’s a language. He’ll never get. His masterpiece. Is his bra collection”. It is brutal and unforgettable.

Organised into four movements, ‘Lux’ ends on a calm and otherworldly note as Rosalía prepares to transcend the earthly realm. “I come from the stars. But today I turn to dust. To go back to them,” she sings on ‘Magnolias’, which slowly layers orchestral elements until it reaches a near-climax of rolling drums and a focused organ. It is a remarkable close to an album that keeps dropping your jaw to the floor, a project that pushes against the playlist culture and background listening that dominate today’s music habits. Turn down the lights, put your phone away, raise the volume and allow yourself to fall fully into an experience unlike any other.