Album Review: Karen O, Danger Mouse “Lux Prima”

Originally published 02/27/2020.

Lux Prima (translating to “First Light”) was an album created to “find a place” not a “sound”, according to Danger Mouse. This is a beautiful album for a couple reasons. First, Karen O’s voice is absolutely stunning here and matches the refreshing feeling of every track. Second, the album is definitely experimental, with soft, mind-bending melodies around every corner, but each song successfully reminds you of a “place” you’re familiar with. Stand out songs, in my opinion, include “Turn the Light” because of its exciting and mysterious discoteque rhythm. I have danced around my room a couple times to this, not gonna lie, but it’s been lit every time so… yeah good song. “Ministry” would be playing while a bunch of beautiful women lounge about in a meadow in the sun. Their white dresses are made of cotton and their flower crowns are made of flowers that are still growing. And also they all have kool aid in their hands oh shit. Another stand out song is “Woman” for its kooky beat and the way Karen O pushes the stylistic limits of her vocals through a raspy croon that gets flung into a falsetto without warning; it makes this song extremely fun to listen to. “Leopard’s tongue” is pretty clean. I can see this playing, not inside, but at the entrance of a lesbian bar and I can just picture the girl at the front of the line shazaming this song so she can listen to it later. Now, my favorite song on this entire album is “Reveries”. Reverie means “a state of being pleasantly lost in one’s thoughts; a daydream” according to google. WOW that’s one juicy, artsy title and it definitely matches the truly captivating melody in the song itself. The staticy effect over the simple guitar and soft voice make me feel like everything around me is moving slower and quieter than usual. She says “through space I fell” and I always contemplate why she didn’t just say “I feel through space” but, like, artists amirite. Either way, it all sounds so magical like a Russian lullaby my mom probably sang to me at some point. At 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the compressed space lullaby expands into what sounds like the main theme of Interstellar…but only for a brief moment. The big moment morphs back into the original lullaby and Karen’s voice ties us back to reality. I — gravitate — towards this song every time. Cool album as you can see.

– DJ Musty