My Top 6 Favorite Laufey Songs
Never heard of the “jazz queen?” Here are my recommendations for new Laufey listeners.
If you like songs about love and heartbreak with a jazzy groove and special lyrics about oddly specific events, try listening to Laufey!
Are you bored of listening to the same three artists everyday? Are you bored of the same, generic chords in pop songs? Do you want to listen to something special and unique? Laufey is my favorite artist who makes songs in a jazzy-pop genre. Her beautiful voice, unique style, and her deep lyrics are what attracts her 18.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify. For those who are intrigued by the “jazz queen,” here’s a list of my top 6 Laufey songs and recommendations for new listeners.
1. “Lovesick” - Bewitched album ⭐️
In the song “Lovesick,” Laufey sings about her feelings she experiences while being heartbroken. Although the song tells a sad story, the upbeat melody and Laufey’s elegant voice makes it feel like you’re flying. The emotionally-driven lyrics are extremely descriptive, explaining the emotions of specific moments.
There are also unique sound elements, such as a harmonized humming after the lyric: The choir sang a melancholic hymn. This makes the moment special, but also cohesive at the same time. I love this song because the melody is very catchy and fun.
2. “Promise” - Bewitched album 💌
One of the top songs in Laufey’s most recent album, Bewitched, is the most heart wrenching piece she has created. “Promise” is about the struggles of moving on from the past. This is another song that shows Laufey’s beautiful songwriting skills, with the deepest and tightly-written lyrics about her feelings of confusion and longing.
Specific references are included in the lyrics such as a street called Melrose Avenue, which is a real place in LA (Laufey’s hometown). The accompaniments throughout the piece are tense and mysterious. But in the end, the strings and piano finally resolve, giving a sense of relief and conclusion. I like “Promise” because of its meaningful lyrics. Although the transitions and harmonies of the song are great, looking into the lyrics and really understanding the story makes this song special.
3. Magnolia” - Typical of Me EP 🌷
“Magnolia” is the most popular song in Laufey’s first EP, Typical of Me. In this piece, Laufey sings about a “perfect” girl, calling her: Magnolia. This is a reference to the Magnolia flower, which symbolizes purity and beauty. Laufey admires this girl, repeating multiple times in the song: “I wish I could be Magnolia.” She wrote this song to encourage people to love themselves because everyone is beautiful in their own ways.
“Magnolia” is in my top 6 because I relate to its deeper meaning. Sometimes, we nitpick every imperfection of ourselves and think others are “perfect.” But no one is perfect, and this song inspires us to love who we are. Someone probably thinks of you as “Magnolia.”
4. “Let You Break My Heart Again” - Single 💔
Released in 2021, “Let You Break My Heart Again” is another heartbreaking song from Laufey. In a Ghetto Blaster Magazine interview, she explains: “I wrote this song about a guy that I was hopelessly in love with. I let him disappoint me again and again simply because I liked him so much. It’s the kind of blind love you experience in your youth…”
Laufey produces this song with the Philharmonia Orchestra, a world-class symphony orchestra. This extraordinary group led the accompaniments, the wide variety of instruments creating a grand, glorious sound. I think this song truly represents Laufey’s genre. The perfect blend of Laufey’s voice, with classical accompaniments, and the jazz influence is beautiful.
5. “Goddess” - Bewitched: The Goddess Edition album ✨
<Minor Profanity Warning‼️- This song contains 1 swear word.>
“Goddess” is about the unrealistic beauty standards and high expectations often put on celebrities. Laufey sings about a situation of heartbreak and anger. She said in a Euphoria interview: “Goddess is my most honest song yet. I wrote it alone at my piano after feeling like someone had fallen in love with the version of me they’d seen on stage, just to find that I wasn’t what they projected once I was off stage.”
I love “Goddess” because of the way Laufey incorporated her real frustrations and struggles into a song. The true honesty and emotion in the song makes the song hit on a different level. The outro of the song also displays Laufey’s vocal skill as she hits pretty high notes in the end.
6. “Lover Girl” - Single (part of the unreleased A Matter of Time album) 💗
“Lover Girl” was released on June 25th of this year, making it the most recent song (as I’m writing this) from Laufey. This song is her most up-beat and exciting song yet. Like the title suggests, the song is about being in love with someone and being emotionally vulnerable. Laufey uses extreme bossa-nova influences in this single, with a soft percussion and gentle guitar in the back.
“Lover Girl” is a great example of globalization in music, combining many cultures in different aspects of the song. Laufey explores the Brazilian bossa-nova genre, while having the song set in Tokyo, Japan, and singing it all in English. The song’s catchy chorus and lyrics makes this song one of my favorites at the moment. It makes me want to get up and dance! This song made fans (including me) even more excited for the upcoming album, A Matter of Time, releasing on August 22nd.
This list is my personal recommendations of my favorite Laufey songs. However, remember that music taste is subjective — it’s different for everyone. Just because I like Laufey, doesn’t guarantee that you will like her music. But if you like songs about love and heartbreak with a jazzy groove and special lyrics about oddly specific events, try listening to Laufey!
Links
Johnson, Tommy. “Laufey Recruits Philharmonia Orchestra to Release ‘Let You Break My Heart.’” Ghettoblaster ,https://ghettoblastermagazine.com/features/laufey-recruits-philharmonia-orchestra-to-release-let-you-break-my-heart/
Okechukwu, Nmesoma. “Laufey - Goddess.” Euphoria, https://www.euphoriazine.com/blog/2024/03/music/tracks-laufey-goddess/
