~ Live, laugh, love, laufey ~

The ethereal Laufey posing for her “Bewitched” album cover.

Photo owned by ***AWAL Recordings America, Inc*** & Laufey

11/23/23

Laufey: The most romantic modern musician

Once upon time there was a girl who did not know that Laufey, the contemporary jazz musician, existed. She was very sad and depressed, burned by love one too many times and ready to throw in the towel (in terms of believing in modern romance). Now, in honor of up-keeping the full transparency I promised my readers, I must admit that these contextual pieces didn’t really have anything at all to do with her lack of Laufey knowledge — However, those factors did make for an eye-opening and emotionally revitalizing experience once she discovered the gem that is Laufey. She would then go on to never shut up about how much Laufey sounds like Rosemary Clooney, the first voice to bring the girl to tears at a very young age during her family’s annual watching of White Christmas (1954). Doubling down, she would also never not be heard speaking about how Laufey’s music has a “Christmas meets Disney magic” to it that she never knew she needed before. All of this to say… I. Love. Laufey!

That’s right, it’s me, the girl, AKA Jacquelyn, AKA The Curator, AKA Jamming with Jacky. Bet you didn’t see that coming! Actually, you probably did, because anyone who partakes in Jamming with Jacky is a certified genius, but just humor me. Please.

Laufey is an Icelandic and Chinese singer-songwriter, who is actively bestowing her love of jazz upon her 12 million monthly Spotify listeners. If I had this blog during the time when I first discovered her, I would have described her as “up and coming,” but within the last year her popularity has skyrocketed. Fortunately for Laufey, but unfortunately for myself and many other fans, tickets are now near impossible to get for her, but I was once lucky enough to see her in Phoenix, AZ during her “Everything I Know About Love” tour back in Sept. of 2022 with a few friends.

With cuffing season in full swing, Laufey is here to provide you with a type of fulfillment that doesn’t require you signing up for any dating apps or, God forbid, having to talk to people. *the audience collectively shudders with fear*

Laufey manages to capture the feelings of falling in and out of love, as well as grief, lust, desire, insecurity, excitement and, of course, heartbreak, both romantic and platonic, throughout her discography, which is comprised of two albums, one EP, and several collaborative singles.

Her Spotify page (you’re welcome in advance):

With narrative and romantic lyricism that can only be compared to the likes of my current lyrical idol, Miss Lucy Dacus, Laufey consistently brings her audience songs full of rich imagery and enchanting stories. Side note: If boygenius and Laufey ever collaborate together I will need five to seven business days to process before I can speak to anyone about it.

The multitalented gem’s capabilities don’t stop at singing and songwriting, which are already more than impressive enough in my book, she is also a gifted instrumentalist: Guitar, piano, cello, violin and more! Sharing her passion for instruments is her twin sister Junia, who is an exquisite violinist, featured on a few of Laufey’s tracks, including one of my personal favorites ‘Lovesick.’ The pair have an adorably ferocious sibling rivalry that can be seen across their various social media platforms, which is very refreshing to see.

In Sept. of this year, Laufey released her 2023 album “Bewitched,” the main talking point of this post (if I could ever stay focused long enough to not go on a billion side tangents). The 14 song track consists of whimsical romance and bittersweet heartbreak through a few musical genres, although jazz oozes out of Laufey’s mouth no matter what she’s singing.

Laufey had hinted at a possible rock song being on the album through an instagram story saying “track 6” in response to a question asking if we would ever get a rock song from her. When in reality, the closest thing we get to it is a song I previously mentioned by the name of ‘Lovesick,’ which IS track 6 on “Bewitched,” but is not so much rock as much as it is pop-jazz-rock. HEAVY emphasis on the importance of rock being the last of the three genre listed. However, despite the false advertisement, this song did make its way into my top 5 favorites and recommendations, in no particular , which I will dive into nnnnnnnow!

Notwithstanding the fact that this song closes the album, I felt it was extremely necessary I open the recommendations with this one. This title track song did not disappoint, in fact, it made a point — a statement, if you will. I’ve always found it to be quite bold when artists name a whole album after one song rather than a lyric from one of those songs or some original title completely separate from any references, because they do run the risk of their audiences associating the whole album with that one song rather than its entirety of tracks. However, in classic Laufey fashion, she be-stilled my heart and shut my mouth in one-foul-swoop. In other words, there is nothing to worry about with this song, other than the fact that it does eventually end, which is not cool.

In perhaps her most whimsical song intro to date, the audience is immediately tucked away into a romantic fairytale, only this fairytale is modern. Laufey manages to make universal experiences sound ten times more magical than any normal person could put into words; but if you couldn’t already tell by the amount of gushing I’ve been doing throughout this post, Laufey is no “normal person.” This 4 minute waltz through wonderland provides a home to one of my favorite lines on the album: “you’re not even gone, I already miss you.” The first time I listened to this song, I was brought to tears, which was a little concerning because I do a lot of my music listening in the car and this was one of those instances, but I’m fine… Psychically… More or less… Accompanied by a full orchestra, this song has the potential to be the next big Disney Princess song. One of my favorite Disney princesses was Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, because I mean, come on, the title alone sounds like a dream, imagine being pretty when you sleep, but more notably and most forgotten is how rich her voice was. Every time she sang I was glued to my box TV, because we were playing that movie on VHS, baby. Laufey has that same Aurora quality to her voice. The kind of quality that makes me feel like a little kid who still has so much to experience and so much to believe in.

To get personal for a moment, I’m afraid that I do have categorize myself as a scorned hopeless romantic. I’ve given my fair share to the dating scene, but never did I think I could experience the simple beauty of a line like “you’re not even gone, I already miss you.” This album was like a bow on top of the gift that is my current relationship. As much as I, a journalism major, would like to believe I’m good with my words, my communication skills beyond the pen and paper are a bit limiting when feelings are involved. As a person who has the tendency to feel so much that it can lead to an emotionally-systematic overload often resulting in a full mental shutdown, this album was a great outlet for me to express my love for my boyfriend. Essentially, I made him listen to the whole album with me batting my eyelashes at him even though he’s a thoroughbred metalhead, because that’s love.

In summary, I love my boyfriend and this song very much, and I think anyone who love’s love the way that I do will love this song too.

In ‘Second Best,’ Laufey stretches the feeling of trying to grab something that’s just out of reach over the span of 3 minutes and 24 seconds. And yes. Yes, I did list this one second because it’s name has the word “second” in it. Did you giggle? Just a little? No? That’s okay, I didn’t either. Anyway! Remember how I said I was a SCORNED hopeless romantic? Yeah… This song… How do I put this lightly? Oh, wait, I can’t! This song hurts. Grab the tissues for this one folks… While you’re at it, could I borrow one? I think I’ve got something in my eye. Anyone who has ever felt like they were only ever an option, a side-piece, a rebound, or just someone who was not treated right will find themselves within the lyrics of this song. With a lightly blues reminiscent guitar melody, the audience is lulled into a constant state of “ow.” But don’t worry! This is the kind of “ow” that hurts in a way that makes you feel seen. I’m doing a great job advertising this song aren’t I? It’s hard to give a descriptive review of this song when it triggers the part of me that feels the need to cope with comedy whenever something hits a little too close to home. How else am I supposed to stay mysterious?

I mean… I’m from California, and I’m me, so this HAS to be a song for me and only me right??? RIGHT??? Delusions aside, Laufey has a way to put thoughts that have trickled through everyone’s minds during their lifetime into her songs. And before I go on one of my infamous side tangents, I need to make clear that I LOVE the piano. IN. THIS. SONG!!! Once again backed by a full orchestra, this time the notable Philharmonia Orchestra, Laufey’s voice sits lightly atop the instruments. The anxious lover in Laufey expels all of her worries about the past, present, and future of a recently departed relationship. I have personally always been equal parts fascinated and horrified by the ocean, which is a conversation for another time, but you can imagine the smile on my face when I realized the opening line to the chorus of this song encompasses imagery regarding the ocean. Similar to how one can become enveloped by the oceans waves, this song will take you out to sea and leave you there. Something that I have always found to be a tasteful and intentional choice in Laufey’s song composition is her decisions with harmonies. As not only a jazz musician, but a music major, which she has gone on record saying she is, I know that Laufey knows harmonies, so I always find it to be so interesting when and where she does or doesn’t include harmony. To clarify, there are none in this song, technically. The instruments, which include various strings, the aforementioned (slay) piano, and possibly an obo, do harmonize with her occasionally, but I’m talking specifically about her vocal harmonies. As me, Jacquelyn, I have always had the crippling and unquenchable thirst to sing harmony on every song ever, this song included. And despite the potential harmonies for this song, I think Laufey made an exquisite choice to just let her melody, no pun intended, sing alone.

Followed by ‘Nocturne (Interlude),’ the heartbreak that happens in ‘California and Me’ gets a round two that’s also worth listening to.

In this song, Laufey confesses to being a lil’ freak and watching her lover sleep. I kid! Because that lil’ freak is me actually. I do that... In all seriousness, Laufey writes an enchanting melody beneath an open and shut story about the experience behind realizing that you are falling in love with another whole human being. That feeling can be daunting for some, but Laufey makes clear throughout the duration of this song, and just about every song she’s put out, that she loves love. Paying possible homage to a song entitled ‘Above the Chinese Restaurant’ from her “Everything I Know About Love” album, there are whimsical strings that take us into this story. However, unlike the gut-wrenchingly painful story that takes place in ‘Above the Chinese Restaurant,’ this song is the definition of short and sweet, which is the exact reason I can never bring myself to skip this song. It’s literally less than 3 minutes of smiling and feeling giddy, who wouldn’t want that? In a fancifully told tale of self-reflection, Laufey holds our hand/ear (weird) through the journey of what it means to be falling in love. The playful strings follow us throughout the song, matching the playful second verse which holds some more of my favorite lyrics: “Must be a trick, a ‘tag and you’re it, kind of foolery.” The denial is so real. Regardless of her disbelief and silent spiraling next to this story’s beau, the song ends with a satisfying confirmation of her newly found love.

A notable point made by my boyfriend that I would like to open with… He theorized that part of the reason “rock” isn’t the first word that comes to mind when listening to this particular song is the same reason you would never associate the word “rock” with Laufey: her voice. Laufey, is you haven’t already caved and listened to something of hers by this point and have no prior listening knowledge in regards to her discography, has one of the smoothest, richest, butteriest, creamiest, and fullest voices in modern day music. To add onto my boyfriend’s point, we discussed how different this song would sound if there was a more rock influenced singer on it, like Joshua Harmon of The Backseat Lovers. And although I do love me some rock, I live laugh love Laufey. So, I’ll take the false advertising, because this song still slaps.

As expected, there is a plentiful amount of mystical imagery and vocabulary, but as an added bonus, there is also a full and booming chorus that upon first listen made my heart and brain experience a synchronic burst of serotonin. As an avid lover of all things guitar (boyfriend and Joshua Harmon included) I found myself so happy listening to this song, which has an instrumental melody lead by a rhythmic acoustic guitar, that eventually bleeds seamlessly into a full string accompaniment for the choruses. And if the entirety of this song isn’t already worth listening to, the outro gives me chills every time without fail. As previously mentioned, the music major that is Laufey KNOWS her harmonies, and this ending is jam-packed full of the. No lyrics necessary when her velvety voice is stacked on top of itself. “Ah” is all takes for Laufey to send me all the way up into the stratosphere. Was this song rock? No. But did it rock my world? Absolutely, yes.

In a similar struggle to the one that I faced whilst having to pick recommendations for my last blog post, ‘The Backseat Lovers,’ picking songs from this album was also a difficult task. In all honesty, I know every single word and possible harmony to every single song on this album, and I would be doing an injustice to not close this post with the obligatory begging, pleading, and or aggressive nudging of my readers to just give the whole thing a listen! And check out the rest of her work while you’re at it!

If you do decide to partake in the emotional whirlwind of a lullaby that is this album, expect several more poetic, charming and dazzling originals, as well as a cover of the classic American jazz song ‘Misty.’ Which, funny story, was the final push needed to solidify a name for the demon-spawn that is my three-month-old kitten, because “Bewitched” came out the same day we adopt her. Despite her looking like a sweet Misty girl, she is pure evil.

9/8/23: Misty the day I got her and the last day she was nice to me.

You’ll find it near impossible to not be bewitched by timeless beauty that is Laufey. If you’ve never experienced the feeling of true love’s kiss like we were promised in the movies of our childhood, Laufey’s “Bewitched” will give you the closest thing to it.

On that note, Jacky out-y 🍇🤍🍊