Initially, this album could seem closer to an arduous academic examination than the latest popular music album by a musician who just had a last single was a collaboration with an international K-pop icon. Broken across four separate parts and performed in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning symphonic opus investigating feminine mystique, religious transcendence, and physical transformation, often via the lens of different female saints. The dissolution of a love affair—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, carried by the lush sound of a major orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast list of collaborators. Its sheer audacity alone makes the work of other artists look quite laughable.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
The fact that this album manages to transcend overly academic chin-stroking feels nearly a miracle, and sole credit belonging to the artist. While it's not her first album to blend historical sounds and modern styles, the scale feel far greater here, with the balancing act more precarious. What really raises her fourth release, beyond its multilayered tunes, dense compositions, and engrained drama, proves to be an essential sense of joy. Similar to the iconic artist during her peak, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's singing which sweeps the listener into its whirlwind. Even when she is breaking your heart in two, the listener still want to be alongside her through the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This playful energy comes forth brightly on a stunning piano-led song about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over several moments. Then, all the music drops away, and there's a spontaneous laugh followed by a declaration before a hilariously exaggerated string surge thuds in with cartoonish impact. The track immediately segues to the frenetic track driven by galloping strings, an imposing choir, and a cameo role from none other than herself.
"The charm of Lux is that the listener never quite know—nor want to know—what it is going to next."
Nearly every song finishes in a completely distinct point than how it started. One moment explores the transient nature of fame with a delicate orchestration before collapsing in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song echoing her earlier trap-infused style begins out moody and sinister, with menacing beats, before sudden traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to smooth the song's jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Accessibility
A key achievement of the album is straddling the gap of bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. This is little surprise that it has become her highest-charting work to break into the upper reaches of key charts: at its core a suite of truly undeniable pop songs. A song sung primarily in the English language builds on a refrain that seems to collect more and more infectious hooks as it spins upward. This trick gets repeated by another powerful track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes like an intricate weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it aligns with pop culture impact of other heartbreak songs, lambasting a former partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Throughout the album, the singing carry a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in acting like a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux is pop on a maximalist level, a hungry reach for capital-A Art amid of impending artificial sameness. It eschews solipsism in favor of glorious transcendence, crafting an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. This is a deep well of buried gems that requires time to completely explore but doesn't feels like hard work. Where some major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager meal, Lux is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests around it, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flutter between conversations about ancient figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary musical from music's most restlessly inventive visionary.
