{"id":169229,"date":"2025-12-05T09:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T09:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/169229\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T09:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T09:21:14","slug":"lux-review-god-descended-rosalia-ascended-and-pop-found-a-new-light-%e2%98%85%e2%98%85%e2%98%85%e2%98%85%e2%98%85","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/169229\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018LUX\u2019 Review: God Descended, Rosal\u00eda Ascended, and Pop Found a New Light \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rosal\u00eda\u2019s LUX<\/a> is a journey between two worlds \u2013 the human and the divine.<\/p>\n

The album shifts Rosal\u00eda\u2019s sound to a spiritual landscape, filled with grand vocals and divine orchestras. LUX is pop reaching for the heavens.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s opening track, \u201cSexo, Violencia y Llantas\u201d sets the tone with a question: \u201cWho could live between the two? \/ First, I\u2019ll love the world, and then I\u2019ll love God.\u201d<\/p>\n

In two lines, Rosal\u00eda situates herself between chaos and paradise.<\/p>\n

The transition into \u201cReliquia\u201d deepens this duality as she lists the parts of herself she has lost in love \u2013 her faith in Washington D.C., her smile in the UK \u2013 offering her heart as something others may keep \u201cfor when I\u2019m not here\u201d.<\/p>\n

Themes of self-sacrifice, devotion, and mortality echo throughout the album, appearing in tracks like \u201cDivinize\u201d, \u201cPorcelana\u201d, and the lead single \u201cBerghain\u201d where she sings with dejectedly sings, \u201cI know well what I am [\u2026] I\u2019m just a sugar cube\u201d.<\/p>\n

The image of dissolving so others may taste sweetness captures a core theme in LUX: love as sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Rosal\u00eda\u2019s exploration of the divine reaches its most dramatic expression in \u201cMio Cristo Piange Diamanti\u201d. Sung entirely in Italian, with power and nobility, she refers to \u201clove that cannot be chosen and cannot be let fall\u201d.<\/p>\n

Spirituality is not the album\u2019s only thread. \u201cLa Perla\u201d is a waltz berating an ex-partner, awarding him an \u201cOlympic gold medal for being the biggest scumbag\u201d \u2013 many fans link this to former fianc\u00e9 Rauw Alejandro.<\/p>\n

Across LUX, Rosal\u00eda moves between earthly wounds and other-worldly longing. On \u201cMundo Nuevo\u201d she considers leaving this world to search for truth in another.<\/p>\n

Its lungful reflection contrasts with \u201cDe Madrug\u00e1\u201d, inspired from the legend of Saint Olga of Kiev, fusing flamenco heritage with themes of revenge. Rosal\u00eda\u2019s ability to knot folklore and theology into contemporary pop is on full display here.<\/p>\n

These reflections then get interrupted. \u201cDios es Un Stalker\u201d brings an amusing intrigue to the album.<\/p>\n

Rosal\u00eda likens God\u2019s modus operandi to stalking. \u201cI don\u2019t like doing divine intervention, but today I\u2019m going to stalk my baby to make them fall in love\u201d she sings, pairing unsettling lyrics with fun production, highlighting the strange nature of omniscience.<\/p>\n

In \u201cLa Yugular\u201d Rosal\u00eda shifts to contemplation, describing God no more as a distant figure behind us, but as a presence closer than her own jugular vein.<\/p>\n

The song elaborates on the interconnectedness of all things; what is small can also be immense, and what is near can feel far.<\/p>\n

The album\u2019s final stretch weaves between the sacred and the personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cSauvignon Blanc\u201d explores leaving the past behind to follow God\u2019s call, while \u201cLa Rumba del Perd\u00f3n\u201d returns to flamenco to tell the exciting story of an inattentive partner who was robbed and abandoned her, but she forgives him because of love.<\/p>\n

\u201cMem\u00f3ria\u201d is the album\u2019s most touching moment, reflecting on the cruel nature of memory: \u201cWhenever I remember something, I always remember it in a different way, and however that memory may be, it\u2019s always true in my mind\u201d. Rosal\u00eda asks the listener: \u201cDo you still remember me?\u201d<\/p>\n

LUX closes with \u201cMagnolias\u201d, a depiction of Rosal\u00eda\u2019s funeral. She imagines magnolias thrown over her as a celebration rather than just mourning.<\/p>\n

The choir sings: \u201cGod descends and I ascend, we meet in the middle\u201d \u2013 Rosal\u00eda finally finds her answer of being between two worlds.<\/p>\n

The physical edition adds three tracks: \u201cFocu Ranni\u201d celebrating personal freedom, reflecting on her broken engagement; \u201cJeanne\u201d honouring Joan of Arc; and \u201cNovia Robot\u201d a sharp critique of misogyny and the sexualisation of women.<\/p>\n

With appearances from Bj\u00f6rk, Yahritza Y Su Esencia, Estrella Morente and more, LUX becomes a testament to Rosal\u00eda\u2019s evolving artistry.<\/p>\n

From a motomami to a saint, Rosal\u00eda<\/a> has achieved the omnipresence her music envisions.<\/p>\n

Featured Image credit: Lux cover by Rosal\u00eda \/ Columbia Records<\/p>\n

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