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At first glance, this album could seem more like an arduous university examination rather than the latest popular music album by a musician whose last hit featured a global pop star. Divided across four different movements and sung in thirteen languages, it is a head-spinning symphonic opus exploring female mystery, religious transcendence, and corporal change, often through the prism of different female saints. The dissolution of a romance—a topic treated with raw honesty elsewhere—is launched upwards here, supported by the lush presence of a major orchestra and contributions from a Pulitzer-winning songwriter within a long list of contributors. Its sheer audacity by itself renders the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem rather modest.

Transcending Academic Pretense

That Lux manages to escape dry intellectual posturing is almost miraculous, and full praise going to the artist. Although it's not the first time project to fuse historical sounds with the present, its ambitions are much greater here, and the balancing act more precarious. What truly raises her fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, dense compositions, and inherent drama, proves to be an essential spirit of playfulness. Similar to the legendary Björk during her peak, there is a captivating sense to the vocalist's voice that pulls you up in its tornado. When she is breaking your heart apart, you still want to stay right there through the journey.

A Prime Example of Exuberance

That playful spirit comes forth brightly during a stunning piano-led song inspired by a saint. It luxuriates in a string-drenched melancholy over more than four moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, to reveal we hear a gleeful giggle followed by a comment prior to a comically exaggerated string surge thuds in with cartoonish impact. The track immediately shifts into the wild track featuring racing strings, an imposing choral group, and a surprise appearance from none other than herself.

"The charm of this album is that the listener never quite understand—or even want to know—what it will go to next."

Almost every song ends in a completely distinct place from how it began. A track examines the fleeting nature of celebrity over a delicate orchestration only to collapsing in electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a song that recalls the artist's earlier rhythmic style begins out moody and sinister, featuring prowling vocals, before fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly choir arrive to soften the song's rough edges.

The Balance Of Art & Accessibility

A key achievement of Lux involves straddling the gap of bold experimentation and broad appeal. It is little surprise that it has achieved the artist's highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of major markets: at its core a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track performed entirely in the English language builds on a refrain that feels to gather more and more nagging melodies while it spins upward. That trick gets repeated on another expansive ballad that grows and contracts, intertwining multiple tunes like an intricate tapestry.

• A dance-infused number charms with its playful, theatrical flair and an anthemic hook.
• In its words, it shares with pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, lambasting a former lover labeled an "psychological bully".
• Across the album, the vocals carry a painted-on edge, like a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Gold medal in being a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of disappointment."

A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul

Lux is popular music on a grand level, an ambitious grasp for high Art in an era of impending artificial sameness. It eschews self-absorption in favor of sublime transcendence, crafting a dramatic spectacle that skillfully controls its inherent ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of hidden gems that takes patience to completely explore but never seem like a chore. Where other big releases of the year seemed like feasting on meal, this record offers a sumptuous banquet at which the guests at it, some intoxicated on holy drink, flit between discussions about ancient saints, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and common gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from pop's truly endlessly inventive visionary.