At first glance, Lux might appear more like a difficult university challenge than a new pop project by an artist who just had a last single featured an international K-pop star. Broken across 4 different sections and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a dizzying orchestral-influenced opus exploring feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and corporal transformation, frequently through the lens of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a relationship—a topic treated with grounded openness elsewhere—soars skyward on this record, buoyed by the lush presence of a full symphony orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a long list of contributors. Its sheer ambition by itself renders the efforts of contemporary artists look rather small.
Rising Above Scholarly Pretense
The fact that this album manages to escape dry intellectual chin-stroking feels nearly miraculous, and full credit going to the artist. While this is not her first album to fuse the past and the present, its stakes feel much higher here, with the balancing act more dramatic. What really elevates this fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, dense arrangements, and inherent drama, proves to be an essential spirit of fun. Similar to the legendary Björk during her height, there is a captivating quality to the vocalist's voice which sweeps the listener into its tornado. Even when she is tearing your heart in two, the listener still want to stay alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
That exuberant spirit comes forth brightly on a stirring piano-led ballad about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy over several moments. Then, everything falls away, and we hear a gleeful giggle and a comment before a hilariously exaggerated string surge thuds down like cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic track driven by racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic of Lux is that you rarely quite understand—nor want to predict—where it is going to next."
Almost every song ends at a totally different point than where it started. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity with a delicate orchestration before collapsing in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls her previous rhythmic work begins off dark and brooding, with prowling vocals, until sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir enter to smooth the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Of Experiment and Accessibility
A key achievement of the album is straddling the gap between bold innovation and broad appeal. It is little coincidence that the album has achieved her highest-charting work to crack the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable hits. One track performed primarily in the English language builds on a chorus that feels to collect increasingly nagging melodies while it spins skyward. This trick gets repeated by another powerful ballad that expands and contracts, weaving multiple tunes as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture honesty of other heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a painted-on smile, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry grasp for high Art in an era of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that masterfully manages its built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep source of buried gems that takes time to fully explore but doesn't seem like a chore. Where other big releases of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux is a sumptuous feast at which the characters at it, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flutter from conversations about historical saints, the profound feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's truly restlessly creative practitioner.
