At first glance, this album might appear more like a challenging scholarly challenge than a new popular music record by an artist who just had a last hit featured an international pop star. Divided into 4 different sections and voiced in 13 languages, it is a dizzying orchestral-influenced work that delves into female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and physical change, often via the perspective of various women saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with raw openness elsewhere—is launched upwards on this record, buoyed by the lush presence of a major orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning composer within a vast roll call of collaborators. The pure daring alone makes the work of contemporary artists appear rather laughable.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
That this album succeeds in escape overly intellectual posturing feels nothing short of a miracle, and sole praise going to the artist. Although this is not the first time album to blend the past with modern styles, its ambitions feel much greater here, and the balancing act far more dramatic. The element that really raises her fourth release, beyond its complex melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential spirit of playfulness. Similar to the legendary artist during her height, there is a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing that pulls you up in its tornado. Even when she is tearing your heart in two, the listener nevertheless desire to be right there for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
That playful spirit comes forth clearly on the stirring Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four moments. Suddenly, all the music falls silent, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a comically exaggerated orchestral surge crashes down like comedic impact. The song then segues into the frenetic track driven by galloping orchestration, an imposing choral group, and a surprise role from none other than herself.
"The charm with this album lies in the listener rarely exactly understand—or even wish to know—where it will go to next."
Nearly each song finishes in a completely distinct point from where it began. One moment explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a delicate symphony only to disintegrating in digital cacophony. Elsewhere, a song echoing the artist's previous rhythmic style starts off dark and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften its rough corners.
The Balance Of Art and Pop
A key achievement of Lux involves straddling the gap between radical innovation and mainstream appeal. This is no coincidence that it has become her first release to crack the upper reaches of major charts: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song sung primarily in English builds around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly infectious melodies while it spirals upward. This feat gets echoed by another expansive track that expands and contracts, intertwining layered melodies like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like number charms via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent flair and a chant-along chorus.
- In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting a former partner described as an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp edge, like a fairy-tale character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have the podium of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
Lux represents pop on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art amid of looming artificial sameness. It rejects self-absorption in favor of glorious transcendence, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its own inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant source of buried gems that takes time to completely explore but never seem like hard work. Where some major pop albums of the year felt like a meager meal, Lux is a lavish banquet where the guests around the table, perhaps intoxicated on holy drink, flit between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and common stories about useless men. It is a contemporary musical from pop's most restlessly creative visionary.
