Songs You May Have Missed #845

26 May 2026 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

Laufey: “Silver Lining” (2025)

“Silver Lining” was the lead single from the third studio album by Icelandic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay).

Seldom does anything this refined and tasteful sniff the pop charts in this country. And, well, “Silver Lining” didn’t.

But each of her albums has outperformed the previous and A Matter of Time went top ten in at least 8 countries including the US.

This peaking popularity seems to be mainly the result of a younger audience discovering her.

The singer says she considers The Great American Songbook her bible. No surprise there if you’ve heard her stuff.

The surprise is her ability to bring lushly-arranged jazz-inspired pop to the younger generation.

Kids these days!

See also: Songs You May Have Missed #801 | Every Moment Has A Song

Songs You May Have Missed #801

31 Oct 2025 Leave a comment

by Ed Cyphers in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ,

Laufey: “Lover Girl” (2025)

Whatever the leanings of your playlist, Laufey’s bossa nova-inflected “Lover Girl” will leap off it as it did from the collection of rather mundane mainstream pop on which I first came across it.

Is the American pop music scene of 2025 broad enough to encompass an Icelandic-Chinese jazz-influenced cellist who sings like Peggy Lee?

Seems unlikely.

But if her accomplishments in her brief career’s span are any indication, Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay) isn’t someone to doubt or dismiss. To wit:

She was a cello soloist in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at age 15.

She was a finalist on Iceland’s Got Talent in 2014.

Appearing on The Voice Iceland the following year, she was the youngest contestant in the history of that show.

She graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

(NME.com)

In 2020 her debut single “Street by Street” charted at number one in Iceland.

Her debut album Everything I know About Love led to a sold-out headlining North American tour.

Her second album Bewitched won the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album Grammy Award in 2024.

In addition to her ability to render lushly arranged Chet Baker- and Billie Holiday-inspired jazz pop with a pitch-perfect, technically flawless voice; Laufey is effortlessly adept on cello, piano and guitar.

Her goals? “Bringing jazz back to my generation” and “doing for jazz music what Taylor Swift did for country music”.

Is it possible? Stay tuned. She’s not off to a bad start.

See also: Songs You May Have Missed #845 | Every Moment Has A Song