Initially, this work may look more like a difficult scholarly examination rather than a new pop album by a musician who just had a last hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Broken across four separate parts and performed in thirteen tongues, this is a dizzying classical-tinged opus that delves into feminine mystique, religious ascent, and bodily transformation, often via the lens of different saintly figures. The end of a love affair—a topic treated with grounded honesty elsewhere—soars heavenward here, buoyed by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter within a vast roll call of collaborators. The pure ambition alone renders the work of contemporary pop stars appear quite small.
Transcending Academic Pretense
The fact that this album manages to avoid dry academic posturing is almost miraculous, and full credit going to the artist. While it's not the first time album to blend the past with the present, its stakes are much higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk more dramatic. What really elevates her fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and inherent theatricality, is a core sense of playfulness. Similar to the iconic artist during her height, you find a captivating quality to the vocalist's voice which sweeps the listener up in its whirlwind. Even when she's breaking your heart apart, you nevertheless desire to be right there through the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
That exuberant spirit comes forth clearly during the stirring piano-led song about Saint Clare. It bathes in a string-drenched melancholy for more than four moments. Then, everything falls away, and we hear a spontaneous giggle followed by a declaration before a comically over-the-top string surge thuds down like comedic impact. The song immediately segues to the frenetic track featuring galloping orchestration, an imposing choir, and a surprise role from the artist herself.
"The magic of this album is that you rarely quite know—nor wish to know—what you will go to next."
Nearly each track finishes in a completely different place than where it began. A track explores the fleeting trappings of celebrity with a featherlight orchestration before collapsing into electronic cacophony. Another, a song that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic style starts out moody and brooding, with prowling vocals, before sudden traditional handclaps and a heavenly chorus arrive to soften the song's rough edges.
The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement on the album involves navigating the line between bold experimentation and broad accessibility. It is little surprise that it has achieved her highest-charting work to crack the upper reaches of key markets: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy hits. A song sung primarily in the English language swells on a chorus that feels to gather more and more infectious melodies as it spirals skyward. This feat gets echoed by a different expansive ballad that grows and contracts, weaving multiple melodies as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms with its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it shares the pop culture impact of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting an ex- partner labeled an "emotional bully".
- Across the album, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, akin to a storybook figure hiding a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Ears
This album represents popular music on a maximalist level, an ambitious grasp for high artistry in an era of looming AI-generated sameness. It rejects self-absorption for sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its inherent ridiculousness. It is a deep source of hidden gems that requires patience to completely explore but doesn't seem like a chore. While some big pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record is a sumptuous banquet where the guests at the table, some tipsy on holy wine, flutter between conversations about ancient saints, the galvanizing feeling of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless men. It is a contemporary theatrical production from music's truly restlessly creative practitioner.
