On the surface, Lux may look closer to a difficult university challenge rather than the latest pop album from a musician who just had a previous hit featured a global K-pop star. Split into four separate sections and sung in 13 languages, we have a head-spinning symphonic album that delves into female mystique, religious ascent, and corporal change, often via the lens of various women saints. The dissolution of a relationship—a theme handled with grounded honesty elsewhere—is launched heavenward here, carried by the lush presence of a full orchestra and input from an award-winning songwriter among an extensive roll call of contributors. Its sheer daring alone makes the efforts of other artists seem rather laughable.
Transcending Academic Exercise
The fact that this album succeeds in escape overly academic posturing is nothing short of miraculous, with full credit belonging to the artist. While it's not the first time project to fuse historical sounds with modern styles, the stakes feel far higher on Lux, and the tightrope walk far more precarious. The element that really raises this fourth album, outside of its complex melodies, dense compositions, and inherent theatricality, is a core spirit of fun. Much like the legendary artist at her height, you find a captivating sense to the vocalist's singing which sweeps you up in its tornado. Even when she is tearing hearts apart, you nevertheless desire to be alongside her for the journey.
A Signature Moment of Joy
This playful spirit comes forth brightly on a stirring piano-led song inspired by a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful whirlpool for several moments. Suddenly, everything falls away, to reveal there's a spontaneous giggle followed by a declaration before a hilariously over-the-top orchestral surge crashes down like cartoonish impact. The song then segues into the wild track driven by racing strings, a powerful choral group, and a cameo role from the artist herself.
"The charm of this album lies in you rarely quite know—or even wish to predict—what it is going next."
Almost each track ends at a completely distinct place from where it began. One moment examines the transient nature of celebrity with a featherlight symphony only to collapsing into electronic cacophony. Elsewhere, a cut echoing the artist's previous trap-infused style begins out moody and brooding, featuring menacing beats, before fluttering traditional rhythms and a heavenly chorus enter to soften the song's rough corners.
The Bridge Between Experiment & Pop
A key achievement of the album is navigating the gap between bold experimentation and mainstream appeal. It is no surprise that the album has become the artist's highest-charting release to crack the upper reaches of key markets: at its core a suite of truly catchy hits. One track sung entirely in English builds around a chorus that seems to gather increasingly nagging hooks while it spirals skyward. That feat gets repeated on a different powerful track that grows and contracts, weaving layered melodies as a complex weave.
- A waltz-like song seduces via its jaunty, Disney-adjacent drama and a chant-along hook.
- Lyrically, it aligns the pop culture impact of contemporary heartbreak anthems, eviscerating an ex- partner labeled an "psychological terrorist".
- Across these tracks, the singing have a sharp edge, akin to a fairy-tale figure concealing a knife: "Top prize in being a scoundrel / You've the podium of letdown."
A Maximalist Banquet for the Soul
Lux represents popular music on a grand scale, an ambitious reach for capital-A Art in an era of looming AI-generated blankness. It rejects solipsism in favor of glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully controls its own built-in excess. This is an abundant well of buried gems that takes time to completely explore but never seem like hard work. While some major releases of 2025 felt like a meager meal, this record offers a sumptuous banquet where the characters around it, perhaps tipsy on sacred wine, flutter from discussions about ancient figures, the profound sensation of soul-shattering sadness, and shared gossip about useless partners. It is a contemporary theatrical production from pop's truly restlessly inventive visionary.
