On the surface, Lux may look closer to a difficult scholarly quiz than a new pop record from a musician who just had a last single featured an international pop star. Divided across four separate parts and voiced in 13 tongues, this is a head-spinning orchestral-influenced album investigating female mystery, spiritual ascent, and corporal transformation, often by way of the prism of various female saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—soars heavenward on this record, carried by the lush sound of a full orchestra and work from a Pulitzer-winning composer among an extensive roll call of contributors. The pure daring alone renders the efforts of other artists appear rather laughable.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album succeeds in escape overly intellectual chin-stroking is nothing short of miraculous, with sole credit going to the artist. While this is not the first time album to alchemize historical sounds with modern styles, its scale feel far greater on Lux, with the tightrope walk more dramatic. The element that really elevates this fourth album, outside of its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is an essential spirit of joy. Similar to the legendary artist at her peak, you find a wondrous sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls you into its tornado. Even when she is tearing your heart in two, you nevertheless desire to be right there through the journey.
A Signature Example of Joy
This exuberant spirit comes forth clearly on the stirring piano-led song inspired by Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four minutes. Then, all the music drops silent, and we hear a spontaneous laugh and a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top string surge thuds in like cartoonish impact. The song immediately shifts to the wild single featuring racing orchestration, a powerful choral group, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The charm with this album lies in the listener never exactly know—or even want to predict—what you will go next."
Almost every song finishes at a completely different place from how it started. One moment examines the transient nature of fame with a delicate orchestration before collapsing in digital chaos. Elsewhere, a cut that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused work begins out moody and brooding, with menacing vocals, until sudden traditional rhythms and an angelic choir enter to soften the song's jagged edges.
The Balance Between Experiment and Pop
A key achievement on the album is navigating the line between radical experimentation and broad accessibility. This is no coincidence that the album has become her first release to crack the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly undeniable hits. A song performed primarily in the English language builds around a refrain that feels to gather increasingly infectious hooks as it spirals upward. That trick gets echoed by another expansive track that grows and constricts, intertwining layered melodies like an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song seduces with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it aligns the pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, lambasting a former lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp smile, like a storybook figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in being a motherfucker / You've the podium of disappointment."
A Maximalist Feast for the Soul
This album is popular music on a maximalist level, a hungry grasp for high artistry amid of looming artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that skillfully controls its own inherent ridiculousness. This is an abundant well of buried gems that takes patience to fully mine but doesn't seem like a chore. Where other big pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet where the characters at it, some intoxicated on holy drink, flutter between conversations about historical saints, the profound feeling of soul-shattering grief, and shared gossip about hopeless men. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from pop's most restlessly inventive visionary.
