With the debut of her third album A Matter of Time, Laufey proves herself as a trained, yet forward-thinking artist of her generation. No one else is really doing what she is: weaving classical influences, jazz traditions, and pop sensations into a form that feels both timeless and boldly new. On August 22, listeners heard an assertion of a beautifully singular voice in today’s crowded musical landscape, and her name is Laufey.
Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir, known as Laufey, is an Icelandic singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence in the early 2020s as a jazz-inspired pop artist. A graduate of Berklee College of Music in Boston, she first drew wide attention with her 2022 debut album Everything I Know About Love, which charted in both Iceland and the United States. Since then, her reach and ability has only grown. With A Matter of Time, she steps confidently into the role of an innovator by expanding the reach of orchestral-jazz for a modern audience while staying true to her roots.
The brilliance of Laufey lies in her ability to combine emotional storytelling with composition and musical structure. Sweeping crescendos and jazz piano chords all create a cinematic atmosphere that elevates the personal. She carries the sophistication of jazz but never loses the immediacy of pop; her music feels alive, accessible, and boundary-breaking.
Take Too Little, Too Late, a standout track. Here, Laufey pulls the listener into the unraveling of a love already gone. The piece builds through two or three aching crescendos, as her vocals and percussion shift from wistful sorrow to raw frustration. By the last refrain, the listener completes the arc of heartbreak: realization, frustration, and bitterness mapped out in sound. It’s a testament to her mastery of both emotional nuance and musical dynamism.
On Snow White, Laufey turns inward, offering one of her most vulnerable performances to date. With crystalline vocals, she exposes insecurities about the female body, drawing on an emotional depth rarely expressed so directly in jazz and pop. The orchestration remains elegant, but it’s her fragile voice that carries the song into something transcendent. It’s a moment of honesty, self-awareness, and artistic courage.
Laufey is currently on her A Matter of Time Tour, an arena tour across North America supporting her breathtaking new album. The tour began in September and features Suki Waterhouse as the supporting act. If you want to see her live and in person, tickets are still available, and she’ll be in Philadelphia at the XFinity Mobile Arena on October 24.
A Matter of Time solidifies Laufey as a rare kind of artist, Her orchestral-jazz fusion is unmatched. With this album and this tour, Laufey brazenly goes above-and-beyond to reach new audiences and satisfy existing listeners in ways that are both emotionally resonant and refreshingly ingenious.
Senior Zachary Long is the News Editor. His email is zlong@fandm.edu.