At first glance, this album could seem more like a challenging academic examination than the latest pop project by a musician whose last hit was a collaboration with a global K-pop icon. Broken into four separate parts and sung in 13 languages, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged work investigating female mystique, spiritual transcendence, and corporal change, frequently via the perspective of different women saints. The end of a relationship—a topic treated with raw openness elsewhere—is shot heavenward here, buoyed by the constant sound of a major orchestra and input from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter among a long list of contributors. The pure ambition by itself makes the work of contemporary artists look quite small.
Rising Above Academic Pretense
The fact that Lux manages to transcend dry intellectual posturing feels almost miraculous, with full praise going to the artist. While it's not her first album to blend the past and the present, its scale feel much higher on Lux, with the balancing act more pronounced. What really raises this fourth release, outside of its complex melodies, rich arrangements, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of fun. Similar to the iconic artist at her height, you find a wondrous quality to the vocalist's singing which sweeps you into its tornado. When she is tearing hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to be right there for the journey.
A Signature Example of Exuberance
That playful spirit shines clearly during the stirring piano-led ballad inspired by Saint Clare. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool over more than four minutes. Suddenly, all the music drops silent, to reveal we hear a spontaneous giggle and a comment before a comically over-the-top string surge crashes in like cartoonish force. The song immediately segues into the wild single driven by galloping strings, a powerful choral group, and a surprise appearance from the artist Björk.
"The charm of this album lies in the listener rarely quite know—or even wish to predict—where it will go next."
Nearly each track ends in a completely different place from where it began. A track explores the transient nature of fame over a featherlight symphony before collapsing in digital chaos. Another, a song that recalls the artist's earlier trap-infused work starts off dark and brooding, featuring prowling beats, before sudden traditional handclaps and an angelic choir arrive to smooth its jagged edges.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Pop
A key balancing act of the album is straddling the line of radical experimentation and broad appeal. It is no coincidence that the album has achieved her highest-charting work to break into the Top 5 of key markets: at its core a suite of utterly undeniable pop songs. A song performed entirely in the English language builds around a refrain that seems to collect increasingly infectious melodies while it spins upward. That trick is repeated on a different powerful track that grows and contracts, weaving multiple tunes like a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song charms with its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic chorus.
- In its words, it shares with cultural impact of contemporary heartbreak songs, eviscerating a former lover described as an "emotional bully".
- Across these tracks, the vocals carry a painted-on smile, like a storybook character concealing a blade: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You've won the trophy of letdown."
An Opulent Feast for the Ears
This album is popular music on a maximalist scale, a hungry reach for capital-A artistry in an era of looming artificial sameness. It rejects solipsism in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting an over-the-top drama that masterfully manages its own built-in ridiculousness. It is a deep source of buried gems that takes patience to fully explore but never feels like a chore. While some big pop albums of 2025 seemed like a meager scraps, Lux is a lavish feast at which the characters around it, some intoxicated on sacred drink, flit between discussions about ancient figures, the galvanizing feeling of heartbreaking grief, and shared stories about useless partners. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's truly endlessly creative practitioner.
