Our Top Album of 2025: The Artist's Lux Takes the Top Place.

At first glance, this album may look closer to a difficult university challenge than the latest pop project from a musician whose last single was a collaboration with a global K-pop star. Split into 4 separate parts and sung in thirteen tongues, we have a dizzying symphonic work investigating female mystery, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, often through the perspective of different saintly figures. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward on this record, supported by the constant presence of a full orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast list of contributors. Its sheer audacity by itself renders the work of contemporary pop stars seem rather small.

Transcending Academic Pretense

That this album succeeds in transcend overly intellectual posturing is almost a miracle, with sole credit belonging to the artist. While this is not the first time album to blend the past with modern styles, the scale are much greater on Lux, with the balancing act more dramatic. The element that truly elevates this fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic Björk during her peak, there is a wondrous sense to Rosalía's voice which sweeps you up in its tornado. When she is breaking hearts apart, you nevertheless want to stay right there for the journey.

A Prime Example of Joy

This playful spirit comes forth clearly during the stirring Italian song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four moments. Then, everything falls away, to reveal we hear a spontaneous laugh and a comment prior to a comically over-the-top string crescendo thuds down with cartoonish impact. The track immediately segues to the frenetic single driven by galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from the artist Björk.

"The magic with this album lies in the listener rarely quite know—nor want to know—what it will go to next."

Nearly each song ends in a totally different place than how it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity over a delicate orchestration before disintegrating in electronic cacophony. Another, a song echoing her previous trap-infused work begins off moody and sinister, with menacing vocals, before fluttering traditional rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to smooth its rough corners.

The Balance Between Experiment & Pop

A key achievement on the album involves straddling the gap between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. It is little surprise that it has become the artist's highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable hits. One track sung entirely in English builds on a chorus that feels to gather more and more nagging hooks as it spirals skyward. That feat is repeated by a different powerful track that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies like a complex tapestry.

• A dance-infused song seduces via its jaunty, theatrical flair and an anthemic hook.
• In its words, it aligns with pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating a former lover described as an "emotional bully".
• Throughout these tracks, the singing have a sharp edge, like a storybook figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of disappointment."

An Opulent Banquet for the Soul

Lux is pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for high Art amid of impending AI-generated sameness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully controls its built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried treasure that requires patience to completely explore but doesn't seem like a chore. While some big pop albums of 2025 felt like feasting on scraps, this record is a lavish banquet at which the characters around the table, some tipsy on sacred drink, flit between conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about useless partners. It is a modern-day musical from pop's most endlessly inventive visionary.