Laufey herself doesn’t seem bothered. In interviews, she calls her music —and shrugs off the rest.
Let’s break it down. Most streaming services and critics have landed on jazz-pop as the catch-all label. And it fits—sort of. laufey genere
Laufey, a 24-year-old Icelandic-Chinese singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (cello and piano), grew up surrounded by jazz greats. Her debut album, Everything I Know About Love , and her Grammy-winning follow-up, Bewitched , are drenched in lush string arrangements, walking bass lines, and chord extensions that would make Ella Fitzgerald smile. Laufey herself doesn’t seem bothered
That’s the “pop” in jazz-pop. Tracks like “From the Start” and “Valentine” are built on bossa nova rhythms and diminished chords, yet they’re short, catchy, and built for repeat listens. In another era, they’d be standards. Today, they’re viral sounds. A more accurate label? Bedroom jazz . Most streaming services and critics have landed on
And it’s working. Bewitched debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative New Artist Albums chart—a space usually reserved for rock and indie acts. If you need a one-line answer for your playlist or your next music nerd debate: Laufey makes cinematic, jazz-inflected bedroom pop for romantics who grew up on TikTok. But really? She makes her own genre : honest, orchestral, and slightly vintage. Call it what you want. Just don’t call it elevator music. What genre do you think Laufey belongs to? Let me know in the comments—or just keep streaming “Promise” on repeat. No judgment here.
But here’s the twist: she also writes hooks that stick like a modern pop song.
Here’s the truth: genre is a tool for marketing, not a cage for art. Laufey is doing something rarer than inventing a new style. She’s an old one to a generation that was told jazz was dead or difficult.