At first glance, this work could seem more like a challenging academic quiz rather than a new popular music record by a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Split into 4 separate movements and voiced in 13 tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged work exploring female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and bodily transformation, often through the prism of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with raw openness elsewhere—is launched upwards here, carried by the lush presence of a major orchestra and work from an award-winning composer among a vast roll call of contributors. The pure ambition by itself makes the work of contemporary artists seem quite laughable.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That this album succeeds in escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is almost a miracle, and sole credit belonging to the artist. Although it's not her first album to alchemize historical sounds and the present, the scale are far higher on Lux, with the balancing act more precarious. What truly raises her fourth album, beyond its multilayered tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is a core spirit of fun. Similar to the legendary artist at her height, there is a captivating quality to the vocalist's singing that pulls you into its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to stay right there for the ride.
A Signature Moment of Exuberance
This playful spirit shines clearly during a stirring piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for more than four moments. Then, everything drops away, to reveal there's a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top string surge crashes down with cartoonish impact. The song then shifts to the wild track driven by racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a cameo appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic with Lux is that you never quite understand—or even want to know—what you is going next."
Nearly each song finishes at a totally distinct place than how it started. A track examines the transient nature of fame with a delicate orchestration only to disintegrating into electronic chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous rhythmic work starts out dark and sinister, with menacing beats, before fluttering traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften the song's jagged corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act of the album involves straddling the gap between bold experimentation and mainstream accessibility. This is no surprise that it has become her first release to break into the Top 5 of key markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. One track performed primarily in English builds around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly nagging hooks while it spirals skyward. This trick is echoed on a different powerful ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused song charms with its playful, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with cultural impact of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the singing carry a painted-on smile, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry amid of impending artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, creating a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its built-in excess. This is a deep well of buried treasure that takes patience to fully explore but never feels like a chore. While other major pop albums of the year felt like feasting on scraps, Lux is a sumptuous feast at which the guests around the table, some intoxicated on holy drink, flit from conversations about historical saints, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's most restlessly inventive practitioner.
