Initially, Lux might appear more like a difficult scholarly challenge rather than the latest popular music album by an artist whose previous hit was a collaboration with an international pop icon. Broken into 4 different parts and voiced in 13 tongues, it is a dizzying orchestral-influenced opus exploring feminine mystery, religious ascent, and physical change, often by way of the lens of various saintly figures. The dissolution of a romance—a theme handled with grounded openness elsewhere—soars skyward here, supported by the lush sound of a full symphony orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among a vast roll call of contributors. The pure daring alone renders the work of contemporary artists appear quite modest.
Transcending Scholarly Pretense
The fact that Lux succeeds in avoid overly intellectual posturing is nearly miraculous, and complete praise belonging to the artist. While this is not her first album to alchemize historical sounds with the present, its stakes are far greater here, and the tightrope walk more precarious. The element that really elevates her fourth album, beyond its multilayered melodies, dense arrangements, and engrained drama, is a core sense of playfulness. Much like the legendary Björk at her peak, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls you up in its whirlwind. When she's tearing your heart apart, the listener still want to be right there for the journey.
A Prime Example of Joy
This playful spirit shines clearly during a stunning Italian ballad inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched whirlpool for several moments. Suddenly, everything falls silent, and we hear a gleeful laugh followed by a comment prior to a hilariously over-the-top orchestral crescendo crashes down like cartoonish force. The track immediately shifts to the frenetic track featuring racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm with this album is that the listener never exactly understand—nor want to know—where you will go to next."
Nearly every track ends in a totally distinct place than how it began. A track examines the fleeting trappings of fame with a featherlight symphony only to collapsing into electronic cacophony. Another, a song that recalls her earlier rhythmic style begins out dark and sinister, with prowling beats, before fluttering flamenco handclaps and an angelic chorus arrive to smooth its jagged corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Accessibility
Another crucial achievement of the album involves straddling the gap of radical innovation and broad accessibility. It is little coincidence that it has become the artist's first work to break into the Top 5 of key charts: at its core a suite of truly catchy pop songs. A song sung entirely in the English language swells around a refrain that seems to gather more and more infectious hooks as it spirals upward. That trick gets repeated by another powerful track that expands and contracts, weaving layered melodies as an intricate tapestry.
- A waltz-like song charms with its playful, theatrical flair and a chant-along chorus.
- Lyrically, it shares with pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup anthems, lambasting a former lover labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a painted-on edge, akin to a storybook character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a motherfucker / You've won the trophy of disappointment."
An Opulent Banquet for the Soul
This album represents popular music on a maximalist scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A artistry in an era of impending artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of glorious elevation, crafting an over-the-top drama that skillfully controls its built-in excess. This is a deep well of buried treasure that requires time to fully mine but doesn't feels like hard work. While other big releases of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, Lux offers a lavish banquet where the characters around the table, perhaps intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the profound feeling of heartbreaking sadness, and shared gossip about hopeless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary theatrical production from music's most endlessly creative practitioner.
