The 25 Best Pop Albums of 2025

25. Taylor Swift – The Life of a Showgirl (Republic)

The Life of a Showgirl enshrines Taylor Swift’s proof-of-concept as a celebrity: modern fame is an act of honesty and excess, a contemporary witch trial, and a glamorous night out. Charli XCX, Swift’s newest rival, brought depth to the dancefloor ruminations of brat: “I’m famous but not quite / One foot in a normal life,” she said on “I might say something stupid.” 

Swift can capture the zeitgeist because she understands the concept of one: a battle between tension and freedom, and the knowledge that conflict is necessary to sustain the things we want. The Tortured Poets Department proves Swift will navigate pain when it is part of a story. The Life of a Showgirl releases that angst. “They stood by me before my exoneration,” Swift said on “CANCELLED!” Even non-existence as a public figure is a discourse Swift engaged with and survived. Now that’s showmanship. – Matthew Dwyer

24. Justin Bieber – Swag (Def Jam)

With all the will in the world, Justin Bieber’s career hasn’t always been geared toward the avant-garde, so it’s to his great credit that Swag is such a rich experience in audio collage. The record crackles with nervous laughter, whispered dialogue, and moments of guttural confession. “Glory Voice Memo” transports listeners back to a bygone era, where ticks and trumpet notes decorate the background; Dadz Love”, by contrast, is set entirely in the present. This isn’t a poppy, bubble-gum record; rather, a more sophisticated audio drama dotted with diaristic perspectives of his life. By making this transition, Bieber has jumped from pop star to creative thinker par excellence. 

For Bieber fans craving something more conventional, “Go Baby” features one of his most impactful vocal performances, a melody rich with romanticism and melancholy. “Standing on Business” is a more immersive look at his process, festooned with noises and men making jokes. The title track, a cocktail of synths and samplers, pivots from rap to something resembling sophisti-pop. “Sweet Spot”, coated in reggae inflections, adds another colour to the singer’s growing array of influences. “Too Long” packs more ideas into one song than many contemporary songwriters do across an entire record. It’s Bieber’s best work to date. – Eoghan Lyng

23. Demi Lovato – It’s Not That Deep (Island)

While snippets of It’s Not That Deep allude to the singer’s tumultuous past, most of the album stays true to its name. “Popvato is back,” said its creator, who aimed to return to the lighthearted nature of her early work. Demi Lovato’s recent output, the albums Dancing with the Devil and Holy Fuck, explored the angst of her addiction and sobriety journey.

To remain relatable to their audiences, pop stars must have one foot in everyday life, while turning the mundane aspects of that life into a spectacle. Completing this act requires an audience’s willful ignorance and a celebrity’s ability to manipulate reality. In this case, then, It’s Not That Deep has depth in one regard: it makes the hustle look easy, which is no small feat. – Matthew Dwyer

22. Ruel – Kicking My Feet (Recess)

Ruel’s Kicking My Feet is a joyful record that portrays messy emotions as building blocks for newfound happiness. In “Not What’s Going On”, Ruel gives in to a new romance, as glossy harmonies enhance an ecstatic chorus. “I Can Die Now” conveys a similar sentiment: “But since I found you, I can die now.” “Only Ever” calls back to the funk influences of his previous records, but uses crisp guitar riffs to express devotion in a laid-back manner. Elsewhere, “The Suburbs” leans into rock, as a raucous sound contrasts peaceful lyrics: “Always drivin’ under 35,” Ruel says, imagining a settled-down life with a partner. Kicking My Feet is a shiny, highly-produced album, but it stands out in a crowded field of male pop stars. – Matthew Dwyer

21. Mariah Carey – Here For It All (Mariah / Gamma)

Mariah Carey’s recent album pays homage to the past. Here for It All is an affectionate and charming look at Black pop music of the 1970s and 1980s, charmingly retro without feeling stale or derivative. It’s a nod to the kind of music Carey grew up on and the sounds that influenced her as she came of age. Here for It All also highlights her enduring gifts, especially that spectacular voice, which is miraculously intact. The record coincides with a critical time in her life when she wrestles with the balance of being a contemporary pop star and a legacy artist. However, it succeeds, despite the potential baggage it carries, Mariah Carey’s new album proves that she possesses timeless gifts.

20. Sombr – I Barely Know Her (Warner)

The debut album by Shane Boose, who performs as Sombr, I Barely Know Her, is a classic rock homage through Gen-Z internet fandom. “We Never Dated” references the Beach Boys in its harmonies, and the high note of “Dime” recalls Aerosmith. Sombr attended LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in New York, the alma mater of artists like Nicki Minaj, Timothee Chalamet, and Jennifer Aniston.

Like his predecessors, Sombr is aiming for the upper echelons of pop. “Undressed”, which peaked at no. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, conjures a melancholic atmosphere indicative of the singer’s stage name, and builds to an eerie climax where he confesses: “I don’t want the children of another man to have the eyes of the girl I won’t forget.”

Over the course of the 2020s, pop music has worked smarter, not harder. The Disney channel divas of the 2000s were notoriously overworked, and Katy Perry crammed five number-one singles onto one album, 2010’s Teenage Dream. However, Sombr exemplifies a new trend: pop stars driving their own success. Self-determination is now an aspirational quality. When fans desire something beyond artifice, performers can afford to be somber. – Matthew Dwyer

19. Audrey Hobert – Who’s the Clown? (RCA)

Pop culture captures normalcy but becomes highly specific at random times, and Audrey Hobert represents its ability to do so. Aside from “Sue Me”, most of the songs on Who’s the Clown? do not sound like radio singles, a format traditionally associated with “pop”. Instead, Hobert uses this structure as a platform for verbose storytelling, much as she employs celebrity to discuss the pitfalls of fame.

Unlike other pop stars, Hobert does not seek to be aspirational. Instead, she accumulates fame by emulating her audience, a celebrity paradox. Audrey Hobert seems to have already grappled with a fall from grace on a personal level. If the pop culture arena rejects her, it will only prove her original thesis: she never belonged there in the first place. – Matthew Dwyer

18. Circa Waves – Death & Love Pt. 1 (Lower Third)

Circa Waves have been around for more than 10 years, releasing a series of albums filled with catchy guitar-based pop rock. This year was an ambitious one for Circa Waves, as they released their latest album in two parts, in January and October. 

Arriving in January, Death and Love Pt. 1 continued the British band’s winning streak. Opening with a brief and insistent rocker, “American Dream”, the record hits its stride with the second track, “Like You Did Before”, a panoramic gem that combines a 1980s techno vibe with a modern pop twist. Death and Love, Pt. 1 ended with a cliffhanger, though: would Death and Love, Pt. 2 continue to deliver quality tunes or simply be a dumping ground for outtakes and inferior B-sides? 

Fortunately, the nine tunes that comprise Pt. 2 lived up to the standard set by Pt. 1.  “Lost in the Fire”, one of Circa Waves’ hardest rockers, opens the continued album, followed by yet another infectious pop tune, “Stick Around”. From there, Circa Waves explore a variety of pop styles, completing the entire Death and Love album in fine fashion. – Rich Wilhelm

17. Florence + the Machine – Everybody Scream (Polydor/Republic)

With every album, Florence Welch navigates an almost impossible contradiction – writing great-sounding, accessible indie rock about tough, painful topics. It’s like going to an arena to sing along to big room ballads about factory farming and deforestation. It sounds great, but it feels bad, man. Welch doesn’t care. She refuses to make herself small for anybody, ever.

This results in records like Everybody Scream, where Welch comes off as an art rock tempestarii, calling down storms and choking fogs with her iconic banshee wail. She sings unsparingly about her miscarriage, subsequent near-death experience, and all the denizens of the dark. It’s a harrowing listen, but you almost don’t realize it; it sounds so good. – J Simpson

16. Thaba – December/Sedimonthole (Brabant Road)

Even if you didn’t know the story behind Thaba, the unlikely contact that began it, the tragedy of Khusi Seremane’s early passing, the many ways in which December/Sedimonthole pays tribute to him, you’d be hard-pressed not to feel deeply moved by this album. Its mix of charming DIY beats and technical musical excellence, soulful lyrics, and wistful melodies makes for ephemeral moments of nostalgia and familiarity.

New wave peeks through the first notes of “Fofa”. Domenica Fossati’s flute, alongside horns and keys, evokes some of the more engaging Wings singles on “December”, which nonetheless feel fresh. No matter what happens next for this project, though, December/Sedimonthole is an artistic triumph of sentiment and substance, and one worth spinning again and again. – Adriane Pontecorvo

15. Self-Esteem – A Complicated Woman (Republic)

Self-Esteem is an unchagrined sensualist and inclusivist, rejecting patriarchal precepts, including heteronormative standards and traditional notions re: modesty, demureness, etc. Needless to say, Self Esteem will not be endorsing Belah Rose’s Christian how-to book, Delight Your Husband. On her third album, A Complicated Woman, these two aspects are still present, though they’re more integrated and streamlined. The activist has become the coach and advocate. The hedonist has evolved into the embodied woman who no longer needs to deny or prove herself. Whatever the newly fashioned persona, the catchy beats, hooky melodies, and party vibe remain. – John Amen

14. Lorde – Virgin (Universal)

On Virgin, Lorde‘s fourth album, the singer returns to the moodiness of her debut Pure Heroine and its follow-up Melodrama, after basking in the glow of the sun on 2021’s Solar Power. The opener, “Hammer”, sets the record’s course as a look inward. “When you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” Lorde says, confessing self-sabotage. This tendency is a condition of celebrity and humanity; when you exist in the spotlight, everything feels like an intrusion. However, throughout Virgin, she also describes hostility in her personal life.  

Maturity requires sacrifice, which, throughout her fourth album, Lorde discovers by separating herself from the person the world sees and often expects her to be. Such small moments of acceptance are a form of freedom. Without them, the next liability is never far away. – Matthew Dwyer

13. Kesha – Period (Kesha)

Now that she’s pushed past her most challenging moments in search of catharsis, Kesha’s ready to let loose. It’s a party-starting good time where our only wish is that it overpoured our shots just a little. It’s a sprawling, uncompromised full-length that mixes bold swings with safe bets, resulting in a record bursting with independent spirit but in need of a tad more commitment to its vision.

While Kesha feels recharged on Period, its best moments are its unconventional ones: the ambient-opening fakeout, the horns and accordions sprinkled throughout the tracks, and dynamite lyrics. While the songs where she plays with both conventional structure and broader lyrical themes are almost designed to prove she could write hit-making material at the drop of a dime, it’s a much better world when Kesha stays true to her vision.

12. Lady Gaga – Mayhem (Interscope)

In her work, Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, analyzes the concept of a “perfect celebrity”, or someone who embodies contradictions seamlessly. In a track called “Perfect Celebrity” from Gaga’s seventh studio album Mayhem, the singer suggests such a role is impossible to inhabit successfully. Sandwiched between electropop tracks indicative of Gaga’s usual style, “Perfect Celebrity” is a brash rock anthem. “Sit in the front row, watch the princess die,” the provocateur says. 

While making a point about fame, “Perfect Celebrity” also upholds Gaga’s reputation as a sonic chameleon. Elsewhere on Mayhem, 1980s disco bangers “Zombieboy” and “Shadow of a Man” recall the shiny club pop of Gaga’s 2010 hit “Judas”. Elsewhere, the narrative of “How Bad Do U Want Me” channels Taylor Swift’s structure while serving as a platform for Gaga to play a surreal character. In a spoken-word interlude, she asks, “That girl in your head ain’t real / How bad do you want me for real?” 

In a 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, Gaga used the phrase “rehearsal of self” to describe preparing for the Mayhem tour. However, if the singer’s performance is rooted in caricature, how can it be a rehearsal of “self”? Where is the line between Lady Gaga and Stefani Germanotta?

In many ways, Mayhem is a return to form. The lead single “Abracadabra” showcases Gaga’s blend of camp and supernatural mystique. The chorus combines spell-casting with improvised gibberish: “Abrakadabra-abra-ooh-na-naa / Abrakadabra-morta-ooh-gaga.” For all of the production value beneath her spectacle, the maintenance of Lady Gaga is not an exact science. – Matthew Dwyer

11. Doja Cat – Vie (RCA)

Doja Cat’s fifth album, Vie, French for “live”, is an about-face from its predecessor, 2023’s Scarlet. On that record, Doja sought to prove herself as a rapper. In response, Scarlet crusaded for rap dominance, but critics said it lost the charm of Doja’s pop-infused early hits. This criticism became the jumping-off point for Vie, which rejects the notion that a need for rap credentials is the singer’s primary motive and establishes Doja as the type of star whose credibility as an artist does not rely on album-by-album critiques. Mixing 1980s pop and R&B on Vie, Doja remains an elusive, genre-bending savant. 

Pop culture is like an arena where celebrities utilize various creative media to further their self-expression. As a title, Vie lacks a clear thematic connection to the album’s contents. Is it meant to imply that Doja Cat is living her best life? Given the star’s inscrutable persona, pulling off an extravagant album is a remarkable accomplishment. No matter what criticism she is responding to, Doja Cat lands on all fours. – Matthew Dwyer

10. Lily Allen – West End Girl (BMG)

As if a (second) messy tabloid divorce wasn’t enough, Lily Allen in 2025 also faced a listening public that seemed to think she’d lost her touch. After the lukewarm reception of the limp Sheezus and the near lack of reception to its follow-up, No Shame, the Britpop enfant terrible faced a make-or-break career fork: the path of the pop luminary with 20 years of public fascination under her belt, or that of the snarky mid-tier podcaster. Luckily for us, Lily has always favored the road less traveled.

Though West End Girl boasts the same soapy, salacious, high-concept breakup drama that rebranded Beyonce as an auteur, its greatest success lies in Allen’s trademark wit properly landing for the first time in 15 years. It’s a reminder of what made her so transfixing in the aughts: her breezy and aloof delivery, giddy pubescent shock tactics, her ability to slice her targets to ribbons and cut herself down to size in the same breath. It doesn’t hurt that it’s catchier than anything since “The Fear”, overflowing with melodies lovely and delicate enough to swaddle an infant in, carrying stories of butt plugs and 4chan threads.

Though the album doesn’t sport the radio-ready hits of her early days, it’s a mature career step achieved through the utmost immaturity – the most Lily Allen way to begin a new chapter imaginable. We’ll get back to wondering what’s next for her soon, but until then: Who the fuck is Madeline? – Nick Malone

9. CMAT – Euro-Country (CMATBABY)

Dublin artist CMAT (Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) has mastered the art of being self-centered and universal at the same time. The songs on her third album, Euro-Country, address her personal peeves and disgust with late-stage capitalism in big, shiny letters. The songs are musically infectious and lyrically clever, simultaneously deep and superficial.

She draws from diverse cultural traditions, Irish folk, Americana, arena-friendly pop, singer-songwriter confessionals, and girl group sounds to humblebrag about the flattening of individual traditions and celebrate our universal commonalities. Her songs are not mashups. They reflect the times we live in. Who, reading this, does not have eclectic tastes and listen to music from multiple genres? We all consume from various sources.

Depending on the track, CMAT can make one weep at the death of a good man, commiserate with a pre-pubescent teen wanting to look sexy, get pissed at the unhealthiness of food choices, rage at other people’s bad behavior, and reflect on one’s own actions and find them wanting. She does this with a sense of humor and hubris, evoking tender feelings one minute and honky-tonking the next. CMAT complains that the world is becoming one big Euro-Country where individual nations lose what makes them distinctive, and she revels in our shared humanity as exemplified by our mutual musicality. It is a brilliant juggling act. – Steve Horowitz

8. Addison Rae – Addison (Columbia)

Has anyone ever wanted to be a pop star this badly and not seemed desperate, but almost immediately deserving? Did we even know how starved we were for debutantes until that sex-drenched key change on “Diet Pepsi”? How much we just wanted someone to give enough of a shit to be larger than life, and how did she do it after so many years of hitting the fucking nae nae?

Maybe it’s in the music. Addison isn’t an album about wanting something; it’s about being born for something and knowing it down to your bedazzled skeleton. Less fated hands would fumble the earnest wistfulness of “Headphones On”, or sound charmless and vapid on “Money Is Everything”. However, Addison’s the real deal. She’s sweet, feminine, breezy, but the sighs and wails over the pulsing, tectonic synths driving “High Fashion” are the volcanic sound of a star being born. Only the strong survive. – Nick Malone

7. Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend (Island)

Sabrina Carpenter does not represent a new concept of pop stardom. Instead, she turns celebrity itself into a performance, using traditional hallmarks of fame as launch points for new cultural conversations. Carpenter’s seventh album, 2025’s Man’s Best Friend, is a quirky juggernaut produced by Jack Antonoff and co-written by Amy Allen. Antonoff also worked on Carpenter’s previous record, 2024’s Short n’ Sweet, adding his signature off-beat chord progressions and bubbly production to “Please Please Please”. Man’s Best Friend expands on that concept sonically, with sharp 1980s synths on “House Tour” and sentimental strings on “We Almost Broke Up Again”.

Barry Keogan, who guest-starred in the “Please Please Please” music video, allegedly inspired Man’s Best Friend. In “Manchild”, Carpenter scolds him: “Never heard of self-care / Half your brain just ain’t there.” However, the singer entices listeners by admitting that, at least partially, the joke is also on her. The title Man’s Best Friend satirizes both a possessive boyfriend and the well-meaning girlfriend who falls for his charms. Carpenter’s glittery pop music is a robust defense mechanism; public backlash against R-rated lyrics is the least of her worries. – Matthew Dwyer

6. Jade – THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY! (RCA)

Going into solo pop stardom, Jade Thirlwall didn’t have good omens lighting her path. Her former Little Mix bandmate Jesy Nelson bet it all on a Nicki Minaj-assisted P. Diddy rewrite called “Boyz” in 2021, a flop that ended her solo prospects. Leigh-Anne Pinnock netted a few chart entries that basically have been forgotten by time, while Perrie Edwards scored normie hits with the exact kind of sounds you’d expect from a Little Mix soloist.

Thirlwall was last out the gate, but what few expected was just what a game-changer of an album she had on her hand. That’s Showbiz Baby! feels more like a Greatest Hits project than a pop debut, running through a cavalcade of styles with braggadocious finesse. The lead single and album opener, “Angel of My Dreams”, is a bold, tempo-switching dance-pop number that reflects on her torrid relationship with fame and the music industry. This theme runs through tracks like the slithering electro pulse of “It Girl”.

Yet for such a bold album title, That’s Showbiz Baby! is truly more interested in the mechanisms of the heart, as tracks like the Robyn-esque “Self Saboteur” and the breezy Tove Lo co-write “Lip Service” speak of misfires, missed opportunities, and regrets. With dynamite production by the likes of Cirkut, MNEK, and Raye, Thirlwall turns her bad heartbreaks into delectable confections, resulting in one of the year’s most unexpected and supremely delightful pop surprises. – Evan Sawdey

5. Hayley Williams – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party (Post Atlantic)

Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party is a big ol’ mess, but then again Hayley Williams has been feeling like a big ol’mess lately. In the public eye since the age of 15, the fiery singer-songwriter endured so much drama, both in her band Paramore and in her personal life, that more than two decades later, she finds herself looking back on it all, examining her present-day self, and wondering, “Am I the drama?”

Comprised of 20 vividly diaristic songs whose scatterbrained variety reflects Williams’s own mental state, she is unflinching in her soul-searching, yet, rather than coming across as overly self-indulgent, her eloquence, articulacy, and sly humor make Ego Death so endearing. Whether serenading her bottle of antidepressants (the Veruca Salt-esque “Mirtazapine”), alluding to former bandmates (“Brotherly Hate”), contemplating intergenerational trauma (“Kill Me”), or calling out her own arrogance (“I’ll be the biggest star at this racist country singer’s bar”), Williams never fails to hold the listener’s attention.

She saves her best for “True Believer”, in which she confronts the hypocrisy of her Southern evangelical upbringing, while “Good ol’ Days” has her looking back on Paramore’s After Laughter era and admitting to missing the chaos of intra-band romance. 21 years after the first Paramore record, Williams finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads, but whatever path she chooses next will be fascinating to follow. – Adrien Begrand

4. Laufey – A Matter of Time (Vingolf Recordings)

On Laufey’s third album, A Matter of Time, nostalgic styles converge with sharp observations about contemporary life. In “Snow White”, Laufey discusses body image: “Mirrors tell me lies, my mind just plays along.” The album modernizes classical and jazz instrumentation by layering them beneath pop hooks and scathing lyrics. “I should be the one you’re engaged to,” Laufey laments on “Too Little Too Late”. 

The modern signifiers throughout A Matter of Time serve to reinforce its 1940s references. In a 2025 interview with The Guardian, Laufey said, “I know if I had gone to a label six years ago and said, ‘I’m going to make music that’s a mix of jazz and classical, and I’m gonna play arenas,’ they would have said, ‘Bullshit’.” Laufey’s rise is a consequence of the diversification of taste that streaming has created. Record labels no longer rely on artists whose work appeals to a large audience. When Spotify houses every song in existence, music itself is accessible. 

Timing is a funny thing; the most random events can, under the right circumstances, feel predestined. In “Sabotage”, a cacophony of drums explodes as Laufey admits, “It’s a special of mine to cause disaster.” The track upends the record’s peaceful, jazz-inspired ambiance, reframing what came before as uneasy peace. By heavily committing to nostalgia, the record finds tension within that seemingly peaceful space. It was only a matter of time. – Matthew Dwyer

3. PinkPantheress – Fancy That (300 Entertainment)

After kicking off 2023 with what felt like a fluke crossover hit with “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2”, Victoria Walker quickly saw the fame cycle in real time: fawning attention, intense pressure over her live performances, all the ups and downs of being a hot new commodity on the hitmaking market. Yet under PinkPantheress’ moniker, with the world as her oyster, she decided to pivot and instead get lost in early 2000s Big Beat dance music, specifically the works of all-timer UK duo Basement Jaxx. 

Fancy That, her second mixtape proper, is an end-to-end burner, a stunning piece of techno-flavored dance-pop that is flirty, quirky, and unapologetic. “Illegal” became the viral meme song, but lead single “Tonight” remains one of her best-ever tracks, and the thundering “Girl Like Me” twists, turns, and bangs across a variety of styles (Latin piano break, anyone?) in a way that still feels unified.

Much like Charli XCX in the wake of the success of Brat, Walker later in the dropped an all-out remix album that featured the mixtape’s nine tracks blown up into 22 new iterations, featuring everyone from K-pop idols like Seventeen and Yves to UK pop legends like the Sugababes, upcoming talent like Jade, certified divas like Kylie Minogue, and a bevy of producers like Groove Armada, Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, Kaytranada, and Basement Jaxx themselves.

Yet none of those superstar detours would’ve been possible if that original mixtape wasn’t that close to pop perfection in the first place. Fancy that, indeed. – Evan Sawdey

2. Bad Bunny – DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (Rimas Entertainment)

There’s little debating that this has been Bad Bunny’s year. Although the Puerto Rican rapper/producer’s feud with the American government over his scheduled performance at Super Bowl LX may have generated the most headlines, Bad Bunny’s 2025 deserves to be remembered for giving us his best album so far. While other artists might have followed the smash success of 2023’s Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana with an evening glitzier, glossier grab for the brass ring, Bad Bunny did the exact opposite.

Instead, he returned to his native Puerto Rico to capture the island’s incredibly diverse musical styles, which he then stitched together with his usual diamond-sharp reggaeton and tropical house beats. The result sounds raw, personal, and incredibly polished. It’s a staggering achievement from a career that just keeps climbing. – J Simpson

1. Rosalia – LUX (Columbia)

The phrase “Music is my religion” often appears on bumper stickers. However, on her fourth album LUX, the Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalia turns that statement into a literal profession of spirituality. The record’s operatic high notes, orchestral arrangements, and use of 13 languages prove that the statement “Music is my religion” need not be hyperbole. 

In “My Christ Cries Diamonds”, a title that appears in Italian on the album’s track listing, a quiet confession of love builds to a crescendo as an orchestra replaces acoustic piano. “Berghain”, the next song, increases the tension established by its predecessor, as strings from the London Symphony Orchestra and vocals from a Catalan choir combine for an ominous effect. The choir says, “His rage is my rage / His love is my love,” but the identity of the “he” remains unclear. Is it God or a lover? 

The title “My Christ Cries Diamonds” captures the essence of LUX. Pictured on the album’s cover in a nun’s habit, Rosalia portrays a deity who luxuriates in pain. Like many religious texts, LUX connects suffering to an existential epiphany. However, contemporary references revise this idea to argue that, despite God’s offer of eternal salvation, suffering should be rewarded with Earthly pleasures as well. 

In “Magnolias”, Rosalia says, “God descends, and I ascend / We meet in the middle,” a statement that goes beyond the spiritual journey of LUX’s narrator and captures the record’s place in the current music market. During the 2020s, pop diversified its sound to accommodate the variety of tastes streaming platforms can cater to. The 2025 albums by Demi Lovato and Kesha are inventive and playful, aware of their place in pop as a genre, regardless of their “popularity”. However, LUX proves pop can be more than self-aware; it can be transcendent. – Matthew Dwyer