At first glance, this work could seem more like a difficult academic quiz than a new popular music record from a musician whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international K-pop star. Divided across four distinct sections and sung in 13 tongues, we have a head-spinning classical-tinged album exploring female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and corporal transformation, often through the lens of various female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a theme treated with raw honesty elsewhere—is shot skyward here, supported by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity alone makes the efforts of other artists look rather modest.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
That Lux manages to transcend overly academic chin-stroking is nearly a miracle, with complete praise belonging to the artist. Although this is not her first project to blend historical sounds and modern styles, its scale are much greater on Lux, and the balancing act far more precarious. The element that truly raises this fourth album, outside of its complex melodies, dense compositions, and inherent drama, is an essential spirit of playfulness. Similar to the legendary artist during her height, there is a wondrous quality to the vocalist's singing which sweeps you up in its tornado. Even when she's breaking your heart in two, you still desire to be right there through the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful energy shines clearly during the stunning piano-led song about a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four minutes. Then, all the music falls silent, and there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a declaration before a hilariously exaggerated string crescendo crashes in like comedic impact. The track immediately shifts into the frenetic track driven by racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic with this album lies in the listener never exactly know—nor wish to know—what it will go to next."
Nearly every track finishes in a totally different point from how it started. A track explores the transient trappings of celebrity over a delicate orchestration before collapsing in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's earlier trap-infused style begins off moody and sinister, with menacing vocals, before sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to smooth its rough corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment and Accessibility
Another crucial balancing act on the album is navigating the gap of radical experimentation and broad appeal. This is little coincidence that the album has become the artist's highest-charting work to crack the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a suite of truly catchy hits. One track sung primarily in English swells around a chorus that feels to collect increasingly infectious hooks while it spins upward. That trick gets echoed on another powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving layered tunes as a complex weave.
- A dance-infused number seduces via its playful, theatrical flair and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting a former lover labeled an "emotional bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals have a sharp smile, like a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
Lux is pop on a grand scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry amid of impending artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its built-in excess. It is a deep source of buried gems that requires patience to fully mine but doesn't feels like hard work. While other big pop albums of the year felt like feasting on meal, this record offers a lavish feast at which the characters around the table, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flit from discussions about historical figures, the profound feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared stories about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
