Initially, this work could seem more like an arduous academic challenge than the latest popular music project by an artist who just had a last single was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Split into four different parts and voiced in 13 languages, this is a dizzying orchestral-influenced album that delves into female mystery, spiritual ascent, and physical transformation, often via the lens of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme treated with raw honesty elsewhere—soars upwards here, buoyed by the lush presence of a full orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a long list of collaborators. The pure daring by itself renders the work of contemporary pop stars appear quite modest.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to avoid dry intellectual chin-stroking is almost miraculous, with sole praise belonging to the artist. While this is not the first time project to blend the past and the present, the stakes are much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more pronounced. The element that really raises her fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, rich compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be a core sense of joy. Similar to the legendary artist at her peak, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's singing which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. When she is breaking hearts in two, you nevertheless desire to be right there through the ride.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That playful energy shines clearly during a stunning Italian song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful melancholy for several minutes. Then, all the music falls away, and we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a comically exaggerated orchestral crescendo thuds in with cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts to the wild track featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album is that the listener never quite understand—nor wish to predict—what you will go to next."
Nearly every track ends in a totally different point than how it began. A track explores the fleeting trappings of fame over a delicate symphony only to collapsing in electronic chaos. Another, a cut echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic style begins off moody and brooding, featuring menacing vocals, until sudden flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth its jagged edges.
The Balance Of Experiment and Pop
A key balancing act on Lux is navigating the line between bold experimentation and broad appeal. It is no surprise that the album has become the artist's first work to crack the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a collection of utterly catchy pop songs. A song sung primarily in English builds around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly nagging melodies as it spins upward. This trick gets echoed by a different expansive ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple melodies as an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like number seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares the pop culture honesty of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former partner labeled an "psychological bully".
- Throughout these tracks, the singing carry a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure hiding a blade: "Top prize in acting like a motherfucker / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album is popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for high Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully manages its own inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried treasure that takes time to fully mine but doesn't feels like hard work. While other major pop albums of the year felt like feasting on meal, Lux is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at the table, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter from discussions about ancient saints, the profound feeling of soul-shattering grief, and common gossip about hopeless men. It is a modern-day musical from pop's truly restlessly creative visionary.
