Laufey – Bewitched

The new album follows Laufey's debut album Everything I Know About Love, which hit #1 on the Billboard Alternative New Artist Album chart and included the hit single "Valentine," which reached #1 on the Spotify Jazz chart. Everything I Know About Love was praised by The Fader, "Mixing pop with classical bells and whistles, Laufey captures everyday emotions like infatuation and elevates them with a level of musicality and flair that is anything but ordinary," while Consequence went on to write, "Laufey deftly fuses new elements of modern music with more traditional sounds of classic jazz, articulating the pressures and pulls of love and loss with distinct eloquence."

While "Everything I Know About Love" shows Laufey's "hopelessly romantic" side, "Bewitched" has a more mature perspective, though she is still in love with love. Laufey says, "It's a love album, whether it's love for a friend, a lover or life. The first album was also about things like moving out of my parents' house and moving to a new city for the first time - the first time as an adult. On this album, I experienced a little more of that and I write about the magic of love that is in being young."

"Bewitched" was co-produced by Laufey and Spencer Stewart, with all songs except the jazz standard "Misty" written by Laufey. In addition, the London Philharmonia Orchestra played on "Bewitched" and "California and Me."

Laufey (pronounced lāy-vāy) seeks to bridge the gap between past and present, between history books and social media, between Reykjavik's Harpa concert hall and Los Angeles' rock dive Troubadour, by writing, recording and performing songs that are truly timeless, inspired by jazz greats and classical masters, but at the same time with the kind of perspective only a 21st century twentysomething could have. Laufey explains, "As a musician, my goal is to bring jazz and classical music to my generation.

The Icelandic-Chinese artist, who grew up between Reykjavík and Washington, D.C., and travels to Beijing every year, grew up playing cello and piano and discovered her passion for jazz standards by Ella Fitzgerald after browsing her father's record collection. In 2020, while studying at Berklee College of Music, Laufey released her first single, "Street by Street," which topped the Icelandic radio charts. Following the release of her EP "Typical of Me" in 2021, Laufey was named Best New Artist in the Jazz and Blues category at the Icelandic Music Awards and hosted her own show on BBC Radio 3/BBC Sounds. In 2022, Laufey was the most streamed jazz artist on Spotify, with 425 million streams across all platforms.

Reviews

"With an expressive voice, she sings beautiful, spotted songs [...] An album that is also sonically right. Don't miss it!" (stereoplay, September 2023)

"One cannot pass by such a voice indifferently. The charisma and maturity of this young artist impress in every song. Despite the full orchestra, the album surprises with its minimalist approach, where Laufey's personality and vocal interpretations are always in the foreground." (Jazz Fun)