On the surface, this album may look more like an arduous scholarly challenge than the latest popular music project by an artist whose previous single was a collaboration with an international pop star. Divided into 4 distinct movements and performed in thirteen languages, it is a dizzying classical-tinged album that delves into feminine mystique, religious transcendence, and physical transformation, often by way of the prism of various women saints. The end of a romance—a topic handled with raw honesty elsewhere—soars heavenward here, carried by the lush presence of a major orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a vast list of collaborators. The pure audacity by itself makes the work of other pop stars appear rather small.
Rising Above Scholarly Exercise
The fact that this album manages to escape overly intellectual posturing is nothing short of a miracle, with sole praise going to the artist. Although it's not her first project to blend the past and the present, the scale are much higher on Lux, with the balancing act far more pronounced. What truly elevates this fourth release, beyond its multilayered melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained drama, is a core sense of joy. Similar to the iconic Björk at her height, there is a wondrous sense to the vocalist's voice which sweeps the listener into its tornado. Even when she's tearing hearts apart, you still want to stay alongside her through the ride.
A Prime Moment of Exuberance
This exuberant energy comes forth clearly on the stunning Italian song about Saint Clare. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy for several moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, to reveal we hear a spontaneous laugh followed by a comment before a hilariously over-the-top string crescendo thuds in like comedic force. The track immediately segues into the frenetic track featuring galloping strings, a powerful choir, and a cameo appearance from none other than Björk.
"The magic of Lux is that you rarely quite know—nor want to know—what you will go to next."
Almost each song concludes at a completely distinct point than how it began. One moment examines the fleeting nature of celebrity over a delicate symphony only to collapsing into electronic chaos. Another, a song that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts off moody and sinister, featuring menacing beats, until fluttering flamenco rhythms and a heavenly chorus arrive to smooth the song's rough corners.
The Balance Between Experiment and Pop
Another crucial achievement of Lux is straddling the line of radical innovation and broad appeal. This is little surprise that the album has become the artist's first work to crack the Top 5 of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track performed primarily in the English language builds around a chorus that seems to gather increasingly infectious hooks as it spins upward. This trick is repeated on a different expansive ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining layered melodies as a complex tapestry.
- A dance-infused number charms with its jaunty, theatrical drama and an anthemic hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture honesty of other breakup anthems, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional terrorist".
- Throughout these tracks, the vocals carry a sharp edge, akin to a storybook character hiding a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Banquet for the Ears
This album is popular music on a grand level, a hungry grasp for capital-A Art amid of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious elevation, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully controls its own built-in excess. This is a deep well of buried gems that requires patience to completely mine but never feels like a chore. Where some major pop albums of the year seemed like a meager scraps, this record is a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at it, perhaps intoxicated on holy wine, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared stories about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a modern-day musical from music's most endlessly inventive practitioner.
