Laufey’s goal with her newest album was to bring jazz back. Indeed, the Icelandic-Chinese singer’s newest album “Bewitched,” released on Sept. 8, modernizes jazz with pop, classical and bossa nova elements, welcoming listeners into a whirlwind of melodies about the complexities of love in all forms.
Multi-instrumental artist Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir, professionally known as Laufey, was named 2022’s most streamed jazz artist on Spotify. Her previous album “Everything I Know About Love” debuted #1 on Billboard’s Alternative New Artist Album Chart. Most recently, after its release, “Bewitched” broke records by becoming the biggest jazz album debut of all time in Spotify’s history with over 5.7 million streams. In my opinion, these are the top-five most magical songs on the album:
“Dreamer”
The first song of the album emanates the feeling of being in a trance through the dissonance between Laufey’s high and low notes in the introduction.
Laufey also makes an allusion to Alice and Wonderland through her metaphor of falling in love where “I fell right down the rabbit hole / Legends say I fell so fast I lost my soul.”
In the verses, the song escapes the hypnotizing vocals into upbeat lyrics where Laufey declares “I’m moving up into a cloud, into my fantasy” and “No boy’s gonna kill the dreamer in me,” serving as an introduction to how the album depicts her journey from heartbreak to self-discovery.
“Lovesick”
Although this song didn’t live up to my expectations of a traditional rock song like it was teased on Instagram, “Lovesick” is beautifully unique from her previous songs, beautifully euphoric in depicting the joys and bliss of falling in love.
Music in the verses gradually increases to an epic chorus that creates the feeling of transcendent love. Laufey perfectly describes the height of this euphoria where one cannot help but think to themself, as she sings, “God, I’m so lovesick / What have you done to me?” Her imagery in the chorus creates the setting of a picturesque date: “When the gold rays fell on your skin / And my hair got caught in the wind.”
“California and Me”
A collaboration between Laufey and the Philharmonia Orchestra, this beautifully tragic song is absolutely spell-binding. The string instruments swell behind Laufey’s heartbroken voice as she tells the story of a lover that leaves—in this song, physically to a different state and emotionally to another lover.
Drawing from her classical background, Laufey creates a slower song that is still catchy. She incorporates lyrics that explore how life may feel less magical after heartbreak as “The mountains of LA will weep through the night / Driving down sunset’s a terrible sight.”
“From the Start”
Using chords inspired by bossa nova music, “From the Start” is another buoyant, catchy song with angelic vocals. Laufey’s lyrics, written in the form of her grand confession to a crush that she is too scared to say in real life, may resonate with many listeners.
Speaking to her crush, Laufey creatively uses symbolic language to portray her unrequited love: “That when I talk to you oh, Cupid walks right through / And shoots an arrow through my heart.”
“Letter to My Thirteen Year Old Self”
The album concludes with a personal, heartfelt reflection of her childhood. She explores her childhood insecurities, like when others “Try to say your foreign name and laugh,” and comforts her past self in this sentimental song.
Laufey encourages her younger self to “Keep on going with your silly dream” connecting back to her aspirational character from the album’s first song.
“I guess this song also serves as a reminder that no matter how old you are, there’s no such things as limitations,” Laufey said during a performance at Pan Pacific Park on Sept. 10. “Your limitations will be your strengths. The things I was most worried about when I was 13 are actually the things I attest my success to.”