At first glance, this album could seem more like a challenging scholarly challenge than a new popular music project by a musician whose last single featured an international K-pop star. Broken across four different movements and performed in thirteen tongues, we have a head-spinning symphonic opus exploring female mystique, religious ascent, and corporal transformation, often by way of the perspective of various women saints. The end of a romance—a topic handled with raw openness elsewhere—is launched heavenward on this record, carried by the constant presence of a full symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive roll call of collaborators. The pure daring by itself renders the work of other artists seem rather laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
That Lux succeeds in avoid overly academic posturing feels nearly a miracle, and full credit going to the artist. While this is not her first project to blend the past and modern styles, the ambitions are much greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk more precarious. What really raises this fourth release, outside of its complex tunes, rich compositions, and inherent theatricality, is a core spirit of fun. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, there is a captivating quality to the vocalist's voice that pulls you into its tornado. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, you still desire to be alongside her for the journey.
A Prime Example of Exuberance
This exuberant spirit shines clearly during a stirring piano-led ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy over more than four moments. Then, everything drops away, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle and a declaration prior to a comically exaggerated orchestral surge thuds down like cartoonish force. The song immediately shifts into the frenetic single featuring racing orchestration, an imposing choir, and a cameo appearance from the artist herself.
"The magic of this album is that the listener never quite know—or even wish to predict—what you will go next."
Almost each song finishes in a completely distinct place from how it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of fame with a featherlight orchestration before disintegrating into digital chaos. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused style begins out dark and sinister, with menacing beats, before fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to smooth the song's rough edges.
The Balance Of Experiment & Accessibility
A key balancing act on the album involves straddling the gap of bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is no surprise that the album has become her first release to crack the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy pop songs. One track sung primarily in English swells on a refrain that feels to gather more and more infectious melodies while it spins skyward. That feat is repeated on a different powerful track that expands and constricts, weaving layered tunes as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms via its jaunty, theatrical drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup songs, lambasting a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the singing carry a sharp smile, akin to a fairy-tale character hiding a knife: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
Lux is pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for high Art amid of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for sublime transcendence, creating a dramatic drama that masterfully controls its built-in excess. It is a deep well of hidden treasure that takes time to completely explore but never feels like a chore. While some big releases of the year seemed like a meager scraps, Lux offers a sumptuous banquet at which the characters at the table, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flutter between conversations about ancient figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about useless men. It is a modern-day theatrical production from pop's truly endlessly inventive visionary.
