Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir is an Icelandic singer-songwriter and musician that was born on the 23rd of April 1999 and is known mononymously as Laufey. She rose to prominence in the early 2020s for her success as a jazz-inspired pop artist. Her father is Icelandic and her mother is Chinese, hailing from Guangzhou. Her mother is a classical violinist and her maternal grandfather, Lin Yaoji [zh], was a violin educator at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, which Laufey credits as partly inspiring her love of music. She has an identical twin sister named Júnía Lín Jónsdóttir, who is a violinist and serves as her creative director. Laufey started learning the piano at the age of four and the cello at the age of eight. She graduated from the Reykjavík College of Music, where she also studied singing, in 2018. After high school, Laufey and her twin sister were together accepted to the University of St Andrews in Scotland, and she had intended to study economics while her sister eventually graduated from St Andrews with a degree in international relations. However, she attended Berklee College of Music in the United States instead after being awarded a presidential scholarship and graduated in 2021. As of October 2023, she resides in Los Angeles.
Four: I Wish You Love
“I Wish You Love” is a song by Icelandic-Chinese singer-songwriter Laufey, it is featured as the second track on her debut extended play, Typical of Me. It was released on April 30 in 2021 and has garnered over 104M streams on spotify and over 5M views on it’s official music video on YouTube. This track is a cover of the mid-20th-century classic originally penned by Léo Chauliac and Charles Trenet, with English lyrics by Albert Beach. The song conveys a heartfelt message of farewell and best wishes to a loved one, expressing emotions of letting go while hoping for their happiness. Laufey’s performance of “I Wish You Love” has been praised for its tender grace and earnest eloquence, painting an audible picture that resonates with anyone who has experienced love and loss. Her version serves as both a personal catharsis and an auditory solace for listeners, translating deep emotion into a universal language through music.
FYI
- Many critics such as Maura Judkis, an editor at the Washington Post, and editor Murray Stassen from Music Business Worldwide noted that Laufey is “bringing back” jazz to Gen Z, as the genre has largely declined commercially, and has received less recognition than other genres when compared to its heyday.
Three: Valentine
“Valentine” is a song by Icelandic musician Laufey. It was released on February 14, 2022 and served as the first single to her debut studio album, “Everything I Know About Love” which was released on August 26 that same year. “Valentine” addresses Laufey’s experiences and continuous reflection of her first love and the song’s genre has been described as 50s traditional pop and classical jazz. Both while it was unfinished and then subsequently released, “Valentine” gained viral traction on TikTok; some have particularly pointed to the song’s internet success as a starting point for Laufey’s claim to fame, commercial popularity, and name recognition online, as well as in the pop and jazz genres. This track hss garnered over 272M streams on spotify and over 15M views on YouTube. In The Guardian, in 2024, Laufey reflected on the internet success of the song, stating, “It’s just a jazz song that I wrote on Valentine’s Day, kind of as a joke, but once I posted it, my phone started blowing up… Now it’s become like a new standard. It’s fun that a song I wrote as a homage to the past can be understood as new music.”
Two: Bewitched – Live At The Hollywood Bowl
On December 6, 2024, Laufey released a live album titled “A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl”, capturing her performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the iconic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. This album serves as a companion to the concert film of the same name, directed by Sam Wrench, which premiered in select cinemas worldwide on the same day. It has garnered over 22K views on it’s official audio on YouTube. The album features a selection of Laufey’s original compositions and classic standards, all arranged for a symphonic setting. While the complete tracklist has not been detailed in the available sources, the performance showcases Laufey’s signature blend of jazz, pop, and classical influences, enhanced by the rich orchestration of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Awards/Nominations
- In 2024, Laufey’s track “Bewitched” won the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the Grammy Awards.
- In 2024 also, Laufey was awarded with Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, and Electronic Performer of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards.
- She also won the Honorary award at the President’s Export Prize in 2024.
Discography
Laufey has a couple of EPs and singles but she only has two studio albums.
- Everything I Know About Love (2022)
- Bewitched (2023)
One: From The Start
“From the Start” is a song by Icelandic singer Laufey that was released as a single on 10 May 2023 via AWAL. This track currently serves as Laufey’s biggest hit of all time. “From the Start” was released after Laufey’s performance with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, “A Night at the Symphony” in 2023. Lyrically, the song is about the unrequited love between a protagonist and her best friend, describing it as “a playful mix of old sounds with modern lyrics.” It hss garnered over 620M streams on spotify and over 17M views on it’s Official Music Video on YouTube. Upon its release, “From the Start” garnered significant attention, amassing over a million streams within 24 hours. The song achieved chart success, peaking at number 85 on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 19 in Iceland. The official music video, directed by Jason Lester, offers a visual representation of the song’s themes and was released alongside the single.
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