At first glance, this work may look more like a difficult scholarly challenge than a new popular music project by a musician who just had a last hit featured a global pop icon. Broken across four distinct movements and performed in 13 tongues, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged album that delves into female mystique, religious ascent, and bodily change, frequently by way of the lens of various female saints. The end of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—is shot upwards on this record, supported by the constant presence of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer among a long roll call of contributors. The pure ambition alone renders the efforts of contemporary artists appear quite laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux manages to avoid dry academic chin-stroking feels nearly miraculous, with sole credit belonging to the artist. Although it's not her first project to blend historical sounds and the present, the scale are far greater here, and the balancing act far more dramatic. The element that truly raises her fourth album, outside of its complex tunes, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential sense of joy. Much like the legendary artist at her peak, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls the listener into its tornado. When she is breaking your heart apart, the listener still desire to stay alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That playful energy shines clearly on a stunning Italian ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched whirlpool for several minutes. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, to reveal we hear a gleeful laugh and a declaration prior to a comically exaggerated orchestral crescendo crashes down like comedic force. The song then shifts to the wild track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a surprise role from none other than Björk.
"The charm with Lux lies in you never exactly know—or even wish to predict—what you will go to next."
Almost each track finishes at a totally distinct point from how it started. A track explores the transient trappings of fame with a featherlight symphony before disintegrating into digital cacophony. Another, a song echoing her earlier rhythmic work begins off moody and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic choir arrive to soften its rough corners.
The Bridge Of Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of the album is straddling the line between radical innovation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that the album has become the artist's first work to break into the upper reaches of major markets: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds on a chorus that feels to collect more and more infectious melodies while it spirals upward. This feat is repeated by another expansive ballad that expands and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes like an intricate tapestry.
- A dance-infused song seduces via its jaunty, theatrical flair and an anthemic chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares the cultural impact of other breakup songs, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Across the album, the vocals have a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale figure hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry grasp for capital-A artistry amid of looming artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism for sublime transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully manages its own built-in ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried treasure that requires patience to fully explore but doesn't feels like hard work. While some major pop albums of the year felt like feasting on scraps, this record offers a sumptuous banquet where the characters at it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about ancient figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary musical from pop's most endlessly inventive practitioner.
