Since the September release of Laufey’s album Bewitched, the composer, singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has proved how staying true to oneself can result in creating a space where people can find themselves. The Los Angeles-based, Icelandic-Chinese Laufey’s self- assured musicianship and deeply felt lyrics take the ideas of “classic” music, whether it’s slotted as classical or jazz—or even blue-chip pop songs written by the likes of Carole King or Taylor Swift—and humanize them, creating a deep-seated connection between her and her listeners within the sweeping universe known as “Laufey Land.”
Today Laufey released "Bewitched: The Goddess Edition," which contains four new tracks that Laufey wrote and recorded in the wake of her finishing Bewitched. “I like to see this new chapter as ‘The Goddess Era,’ which, to me, is kind of a play on words,” she says. “I'm in no way saying that I'm a goddess. Being a woman in general, but also being in the public eye now—you're kind of perceived on stage as this perfect thing, and then at home you’re the same person.” The slow-burning “Goddess,” which closes out the new edition of Bewitched, speaks directly to that paradox, which Laufey has lived as her profile has grown and her successes have mounted. “That song addresses it through the story of a guy that falls in love with me on stage, and he has seen this image of me,” she says. “Then we go back home, and it’s like, ‘Oh, I’m just human.’
Listen to 'Bewitched: The Goddess Edition' here
Laufey grew up between Reykjavik and Washington, D.C., and she studied cello at the Berklee College of Music. Her 2022 debut Everything I Know About Love introduced her “hopeless romantic” side, while Bewitched reflects her more mature outlook while writing about, as she puts it, “the magic and luster unique to youthful love.” In 2023 she also released A Night at the Symphony, a live album recorded with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra; she performed with the LA Phil, National Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra; and she collaborated with artists like Beabadoobee and Norah Jones.
Her singular point of view and potent songwriting have resulted in a large community growing around her, and she’s helped cultivate it with The Laufey Book Club, which has put the spotlight on selections like Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted and Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls, as well as through her posts on Instagram (2.5 million followers) and TikTok (3.7 million followers).
