Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía’s highly anticipated album LUX has been met with widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike. It’s a fusion of ideas drawn from diverse storytelling traditions, cultures and languages, offering a rich tapestry that rewards repeated listening.
The album explores perennial themes – love, betrayal, abandonment – alongside spiritual and divine motifs. The result is a pop record with substance and bite. Critics have debated whether LUX should be classified as pop or classical music.
But this binary misses the point. The presence of operatic, orchestral and symphonic influences and flourishes doesn’t necessarily make the album classical any more than driving a high-performance car makes someone an F1 driver.
