LUX

A transformative piece of expression that’s as intense and maximalist as life itself.

‘LUX’ may have only just come out, but, years down the line, it might be no exaggeration to describe it as a turning point in pop music.

‘Lux’ is endearingly insistent on taking you away from the lethargy of modern life and transporting you to a surround sound, meta-textual dimension. It’s hard-won, but oh so worth it.

Music purists can entertain themselves all they like by debating whether this is “true” classical music. The rest of us can revel in what is possibly the best album of the year.

She’s having fun. Classical music and opera clearly aren’t her home. But on “Lux,” they’re her playground.

The fact that these flashes of “modernity” are rare in Lux makes them even more powerful; however, make no mistake: this is not an album of fleeting gestures or random insertions of new musical elements.

In “De Madrugá,” the climax of the more personal first half, the character bolts awake in a cold sweat and the song only goes harder from there. .... The more philosophical second half begins with Movement III and “Dios Es un Stalker,” an alluring mix of the sacred and profane.