Laufey and Her “Bewitching” Music Exude Gen Z Charm with a Classical Flair
July 10, 2024
By Michelle Medina Villalon
A few months ago, I was scrolling through my phone in a moment of boredom, mindlessly watching short-form content. I suddenly stumbled across a video with an extremely familiar opening cadence and quickly realized that the song I was hearing was one by my long-time favorite, previously niche, artist: Laufey.
Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir, known artistically as Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay), is a twenty-five-year-old singer-songwriter and record producer. The Icelandic-Chinese musician has been active since April 2020, when she released her debut single, “Street by Street.” But she’s been honing her craft for much longer.
In fact, Laufey comes from a musical family. Her grandfather was a music educator in China and her mother is a classical violinist. Her sister, Junia, is also a violinist who often joins Laufey onstage.
Laufey’s musical journey began at age four, when she began learning piano. She picked up the cello at age eight, and by fifteen, she had made her debut as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Her expansive music education includes renowned institutions such as the Reykjavik College of Music and Berklee College of Music.
Though Laufey’s musical beginnings were mostly in the classical sphere, the singer experimented with other genres early on. She has called jazz her “first love” for helping her embrace her naturally low singing voice. Laufey’s first forays into pop came later and with hesitation as she felt her alto range was not common in the genre at the time.
Eventually, the young singer’s voice blossomed into a distinctive and moving pop sound. It was Laufey’s powerful covers of pop hits that earned praise on the Icelandic version of Got Talent and The Voice Iceland, on which she became the youngest competitor in the series’ history at the time.
So, how did the world just discover this stellar talent?
The rise of short-form content like TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have revolutionized the way younger generations listen to music. One viral video can become a debut single, which can lead to an EP, then an album. Before you know it, someone who was making song covers for fun in their bedroom now has a GRAMMY.
Laufey’s soaring path to international fame is just one example. In April 2020, Laufey posted her first song on TikTok, “Like the Movies,” a dreamy pop song about falling in love the way people do in films. Her novel vintage-sounding voice and simple instrumentals caught the attention of many looking for comfort and connection in the early days of the pandemic. Her music felt wistful and longing, a feeling shared by many isolating at home, far away from loved ones and familiar social circles.
Laufey continued to post her covers and original songs to a moderate, but steadily increasing online fanbase. By 2023, Laufey’s music had healthy success in her home country of Iceland and her EP, Typical of Me, had a #2 spot on the US Jazz charts. In August 2023, the singer announced she’d signed a record deal with Warner Chappell Music.
It was the release of her first album with WMC, titled Bewitched, last September that catapulted the singer to entirely new heights. Laufey’s dedicated TikTok audience, a following which she had been building since those song covers in 2020, quickly propelled this jazz-classical-pop hybrid album into the mainstream.
Bewitched charted in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. One track that gained instant popularity as a short-form content audio clip, “From the Start,” made it to the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
Since then, Laufey has enjoyed consistent acclaim, including a GRAMMY award for Best Traditional Pop Album and a nearly sold-out international tour. And it’s not hard to see why her unique blend of music has “bewitched” audiences of all ages.
At a recent Laufey concert I attended in Williamsburg, VA, I expected her audience to reflect the artist’s massive social media following. Though many concertgoers fell into the Gen Z category, I was surprised to see much more generationally diverse representation in the crowd.
Laufey has described herself as “very much a 21st century girl.” If you look at her marketing, the pop influences in her music, and generally playful approach to more traditional genres, it’s clear the artist does not try to fit the mold of any other generation.
It’s the nostalgia her sound evokes and her classical training that make Laufey accessible to fanbases beyond her TikTok following. Her haunting, warm alto voice is effortlessly timeless, reminiscent of great singers of days past. Laufey has even cited Ella Fitzgerald as one of her greatest influences.
As Laufey’s music has evolved, she’s also taken more risks with a style that distinguishes itself from the more digital sound of today’s pop music. Bewitched features swaying piano, rich strings, and even a collaboration with the Philharmonia Orchestra. One of her most recent releases this year, a single titled Goddess, fully leans into classical-pop fusion with a complex piano motif underscoring lilting vocals, creating an awe-inspiring symphonic texture.
The more Laufey leans into her classical training, it seems, the more her audience embraces classical music. The singer frequently performs with orchestras around the world and is always eager to take a break between songs to play the cello at her concerts. At the concert I attended, she played her piece “Nocturne,” a contemporary classical piano feature on her latest album, captivating the audience just as easily as she would with one of her more traditional pop songs.
Though Laufey’s overnight rise to fame may strike some as temporary, you only need to listen to one of her songs to see this artist is here to stay. She certainly has the talent to keep generating extraordinary hits, and remains effervescently charming as a musical personality. If you want a curated taste of Laufey’s more classical-leaning music, check out our playlist below!
- Let You Break My Heart Again (Laufey, Philharmonia Orchestra)
- Goddess
- Lovesick
- Bewitched
- Fragile – Live at The Symphony (Laufey, Iceland Symphony Orchestra)
- California and Me (Laufey, Philharmonia Orchestra)
- Nocturne (Interlude)
- From The Start
- Valentine – Live at the Symphony (Laufey, Iceland Symphony Orchestra)
- Above the Chinese Restaurant