At first glance, this work may look more like a difficult scholarly examination rather than the latest popular music album from an artist whose last single featured a global pop icon. Divided into four distinct sections and sung in 13 tongues, we have a dizzying symphonic album investigating female mystique, religious ascent, and physical change, frequently via the lens of various female saints. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with raw honesty elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, carried by the lush sound of a major orchestra and input from an award-winning composer within an extensive list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition alone makes the work of other pop stars look quite modest.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
That Lux succeeds in transcend dry academic posturing feels nearly miraculous, with complete praise going to the artist. Although it's not the first time album to blend historical sounds with the present, its scale feel much higher here, and the tightrope walk far more precarious. What really elevates this fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, is an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart apart, the listener nevertheless desire to stay alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful energy comes forth clearly during the stunning Italian ballad inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four moments. Suddenly, all the music falls away, and we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a comment before a comically exaggerated string surge thuds down with cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts to the wild track featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from none other than Björk.
"The magic with this album lies in the listener rarely exactly understand—or even wish to predict—what you will go next."
Nearly every song ends in a totally distinct place from how it started. One moment explores the transient nature of celebrity over a featherlight symphony before collapsing into digital chaos. Another, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic work begins out dark and brooding, with menacing vocals, before sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Pop
Another crucial achievement on Lux involves straddling the gap between radical innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is no surprise that the album has achieved the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. One track sung primarily in the English language builds on a chorus that feels to collect more and more nagging hooks as it spirals upward. This trick gets echoed on a different expansive track that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like number charms with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along hook.
- In its words, it shares the cultural impact of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting a former lover described as an "psychological bully".
- Throughout the album, the vocals have a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You have won the trophy of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry amid of looming artificial blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully manages its own built-in excess. It is an abundant source of hidden treasure that takes time to completely mine but doesn't feels like hard work. Where other major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record offers a sumptuous feast where the guests at the table, perhaps intoxicated on sacred drink, flit from conversations about historical saints, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about useless partners. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
