Courtesy of Laufey’s Instagram account

The recording artist Laufey, in an apparent outtake from her album cover photo shoot.

The 23-year-old singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist Laufey (pronounced as Lay-vay) released her debut album “Everything I Know About Love,” on August 26, 2022.

Risen to fame after being a finalist in “Ísland Got Talent“ (the Icelandic version of “America’s Got Talent”), Laufey writes a sort of contemporary jazz, with beautiful instrumentals and deeply personal lyrics. While her debut EP, “Typical of Me” (2021), showed passion, jealousy, and loneliness, her newest releases have a more gentle tone.

Below are her most popular songs from the album, and a few more that that stood out to me:

  “Valentine” 

Released on February 14, 2022, Laufey’s first single from the album is one of her most popular songs. It shines in youthfulness. The lyrics show Laufey falling in love for the first time, and not knowing how to react to the shock of being liked back. I did enjoy this song, but there isn’t a lot of variety in the notes and harmonies, so I think it is a bit overrated.

  “Above the Chinese Restaurant” 

This is the only song not focused on Laufey’s life. Instead, it focuses on a young couple living in Chinatown sharing dumplings, a reference to her Chinese heritage. The instrumentals are further from classic jazz than her other songs, and I particularly like how the time signatures of the lyrics and background instrumentals are different and change throughout the piece.

  “Dance With You Tonight” 

As the title suggests, this song is the most danceable of the album, with a jazzy beat and tipsy mood. The harmonies are similar to a barbershop quartet, and the lyrics, while still romantic, are more casual than those of previous tracks, as the story takes place in a bar. The piece is only two and a half minutes, which I think is the perfect length. I would say this is one of my favorite, if not my very favorite, song on the album.

  “Everything I Know About Love” 

This song does not particularly stand out to me. In it, Laufey sings about how love is unpredictable, and does not resemble what she learned as a child. As the album’s title song, it makes sense for it to be closer to pop music to reach a larger audience. However, it is a bit long and repetitive, and there are few instrumentals. I did notice that the beat was very similar to the hit song “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John, which I found interesting.

  “Just Like Chet” 

This is probably my least favorite song on the album. It is a tribute to Chet Baker, an American jazz trumpeter. I appreciate the melody, but the lyrics don’t mean much to me, and it is pretty repetitive

  “Night Light” 

The final song of the album tells a story from Laufey’s childhood, and the memory of her old bedroom. It is a perfect close to the album, and resembles a lullaby. The emotions are not necessarily sad, but rather nostalgic. Its strong harmonies and beautiful strings make “Night Light” one of my personal favorites.

I thoroughly enjoyed the majority of this album. I recommend it to all music lovers out there – even, and especially, ones not so familiar with jazz.