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At first glance, this album might appear closer to a difficult university quiz rather than a new popular music album by an artist who just had a previous single was a collaboration with an international pop star. Broken across 4 distinct sections and performed in thirteen languages, we have a breathtaking classical-tinged album that delves into feminine mystery, spiritual transcendence, and bodily change, often via the prism of different women saints. The end of a romance—a topic treated with grounded honesty on another major 2025 album—is launched skyward on this record, buoyed by the constant sound of a major symphony orchestra and contributions from an award-winning composer within an extensive roll call of contributors. The pure ambition alone makes the efforts of contemporary pop stars seem quite laughable.

Rising Above Scholarly Exercise

The fact that this album manages to transcend overly academic posturing feels nothing short of a miracle, with full praise going to the artist. While this is not her first album to fuse historical sounds and modern styles, its scale feel much greater on Lux, with the balancing act more precarious. What really elevates her fourth release, beyond its complex tunes, dense compositions, and engrained theatricality, proves to be an essential sense of playfulness. Similar to the legendary artist during her height, there is a captivating quality to the vocalist's voice which sweeps the listener into its tornado. Even when she is breaking hearts in two, the listener nevertheless want to stay right there for the journey.

A Signature Moment of Joy

This playful spirit comes forth clearly during the stunning Italian ballad about a saint. It bathes in a sorrowful melancholy over more than four minutes. Suddenly, everything falls silent, and there's a spontaneous laugh and a declaration before a comically exaggerated string crescendo crashes down like comedic impact. The song immediately shifts into the wild track featuring galloping orchestration, a powerful choir, and a cameo role from the artist herself.

"The charm with this album is that you never exactly know—or even wish to know—where you is going to next."

Almost each track concludes at a totally distinct place from where it started. A track explores the transient trappings of fame with a delicate symphony before collapsing in digital cacophony. Another, a cut echoing the artist's earlier rhythmic style starts off moody and sinister, with menacing beats, until sudden flamenco rhythms and an angelic chorus enter to soften the song's jagged edges.

The Balance Between Experiment & Accessibility

Another crucial achievement on Lux is navigating the gap between bold innovation and mainstream accessibility. It is little coincidence that it has achieved the artist's first release to crack the upper reaches of major charts: its heart contains a suite of utterly catchy hits. One track performed primarily in English builds on a chorus that seems to collect more and more infectious hooks as it spins skyward. That trick is repeated on another expansive track that grows and constricts, intertwining multiple tunes as an intricate tapestry.

• A dance-infused song charms via its playful, Disney-adjacent drama and an anthemic hook.
• Lyrically, it aligns with pop culture honesty of contemporary breakup songs, eviscerating a former lover labeled an "emotional bully".
• Throughout the album, the vocals carry a sharp smile, like a fairy-tale figure concealing a blade: "Top prize in acting like a scoundrel / You have won the trophy of disappointment."

A Maximalist Feast for the Ears

Lux represents pop on a maximalist scale, an ambitious grasp for capital-A artistry in an era of impending artificial blankness. It eschews self-absorption for glorious elevation, creating an over-the-top spectacle that masterfully manages its own built-in ridiculousness. It is an abundant well of hidden gems that requires time to fully explore but doesn't feels like hard work. While some major pop albums of the year seemed like feasting on scraps, this record is a sumptuous feast at which the characters at it, some intoxicated on sacred wine, flutter between conversations about historical figures, the profound sensation of heartbreaking sadness, and common gossip about useless men. In essence, it's a contemporary musical from music's truly endlessly inventive practitioner.