At first glance, this album may look closer to a difficult scholarly challenge rather than the latest pop record from a musician who just had a previous hit featured an international K-pop star. Broken into 4 distinct parts and performed in 13 tongues, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced work investigating feminine mystery, religious ascent, and physical transformation, often by way of the perspective of various female saints. The end of a romance—a theme treated with grounded openness elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, buoyed by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer within a long list of collaborators. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem rather small.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
The fact that Lux manages to escape dry intellectual chin-stroking feels almost miraculous, with sole credit going to the artist. Although this is not her first project to alchemize historical sounds with modern styles, the ambitions are far higher here, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. What really raises her fourth album, beyond its complex tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Similar to the iconic artist at her peak, there is a wondrous sense to the vocalist's voice which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. When she is tearing your heart apart, you still desire to stay alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit comes forth clearly on the stunning Italian song about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four moments. Then, everything drops away, to reveal there's a gleeful laugh and a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge thuds down like cartoonish force. The song immediately shifts to the wild track featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm of Lux is that the listener rarely exactly understand—nor wish to know—what it will go next."
Nearly each song ends at a completely distinct place than how it started. A track explores the fleeting trappings of fame with a featherlight orchestration only to collapsing in electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing her earlier trap-infused style starts off dark and sinister, with menacing vocals, before fluttering traditional handclaps and an angelic chorus enter to soften its jagged corners.
The Balance Between Experiment and Pop
Another crucial achievement of Lux is straddling the line between radical experimentation and mainstream accessibility. This is little surprise that it has achieved her first release to crack the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. A song performed entirely in English builds on a refrain that seems to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spirals upward. This feat gets echoed by a different powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural impact of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album is popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its own inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried treasure that takes patience to completely explore but doesn't seem like hard work. While other major releases of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record offers a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at the table, perhaps tipsy on holy wine, flutter between discussions about historical saints, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
