Laufey has made waves with her contemporary take on jazz and classical music. The 24-year-old vocalist attributes her love of both music genres to her family, with both her mother and grandfather being accomplished violinists. The jazz and classical genres can be perceived as heavy and boring especially among Gen Zs who grew up on catchy pop ear worms, Laufey has made it her mission to share the beauty of jazz with her generation through her music.
Accomplishing her mission has been made easier with TikTok. As Gen Zs most favoured social media platform, the singer uses it as a means to share her music to a wider audience but also as means to connect with her fans on a more intimate level. Through casual and candid videos, she lets viewers take a peek into a small snippet of her life which then makes her seemingly more relatable; a trait that Gen Zs highly value. This pairing of talent and personality makes for a recipe for success—and eventually, success she found.
Building from the accolades of her first studio album, she embarks on her first ever Asian tour with Singapore as the third stop. Fortunately, I managed to snag a ticket even though I had no idea she was coming until the night the tickets were released. From then on, it was just counting down the days until I could hear ‘Beautiful Stranger’ performed live.
The day of the concert came and apparently there was already a queue 8 hours before the venue gates opened. Fans were sat on the grass patch while queueing, which later grew even longer. The queue snaked around the venue as fans and I patiently waited under the unpredictable Singapore weather for our turn to be let in.
Presented by 24Owls, the sold-out concert—held at Pasir Panjang Power Station—sits with other female acts under the Alex Blake Charlie Sessions umbrella which aims to highlight female talent. Once inside, audiences were greeted by the stage which was decorated with LED lights along with a pre-show playlist full of jazz and pop tracks, setting you up for a truly memorable experience. Food and drink stalls were situated by the sides with accompanying resting areas and a specially curated bookstore and Laufey merchandise booth occupied the back.
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While we waited for the ‘Magnolia’ singer to appear, I cannot help but take notice of the diverse crowd amassing around the stage. From young to old, singles to couples, and even parents that were accompanying their children to the concert; her music manages to resonate with people from all walks of life. As each song from the playlist concluded, feint cheering could be heard; fans were expecting for the singer to show up but they were left disappointed when the next song started playing.
After multiple false alarms, a silhouette was seen dashing across the stage. Laufey finally appeared, picking up her red electrical guitar before finally commencing her set with the first two tracks off her first studio album, ‘Fragile’ and ‘Valentine.’ As her voice projected through the clear speakers, her vocals reverberated across the whole space, commanding attention from everyone with just her voice and guitar playing.
As sweet as her vocals were, her personality was even sweeter. After the opening songs concluded, the singer greeted her fans and exclaimed how excited she was to come to Singapore to meet at all her new ‘friends.’ While she sympathised for fans that had to queue under the rain, she thought of teasing them with a wave while driving in.
Before the start of every song, she would share the back story that inspired each track. ‘James’ was inspired by a bad date that she went, where the guy was full of himself. ‘Falling Behind’ told the story of how she felt left behind as she saw the people around her achieving great things. While my personal favourite is ‘Beautiful Stranger,’ a track about having a fleeting crush on the public transport, got me bravely singing word for word when she performed it.
A concert highlight was when someone waved a shirt with the word ‘suitcase?’ on it. Her suitcase, which got lost in Paris at the start of the tour and that had her begging Air France and Singapore Airlines on TikTok, remained lost as there was no update. However, the day after, she updated on TikTok that she finally received her luggage back. I hope we get a song from this saga.
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The concert continued with a cover of her favourite jazz track ‘Misty’ by Ella Fitzgerald, a jazz classic that she played on the piano. Following that, the concert continued with other tracks such as ‘Street by Street’ before concluding with her latest Bossa nova-inspired single, ‘From the Start.’ Singapore was awarded a TikTok video on the singer’s account for having the loudest scream during the song’s catchiest ‘Blah Blah Blah’ portion; that even got me surprised.
With that being her last track, she said her goodbyes and made her way out of the stage — or so we thought. As fans chanted for an encore, she reappeared back to the stage, sitting down on the piano and said “I am going to leak a new song from my new album because I can.” She then began playing ‘Promise’, a soft ballad, that will officially be made available on music streaming platforms on the 14th of June. She properly concluded her concert with a song that even got her emotional after singing it, a song that was written for her best friend, ‘Magnolia.’
“Before I forget, my name is pronounced “Loy-vay”, or you can call me by my Chinese name, “BingBing”” she announced as she bids farewell to the audience, adding how she needs to come back to Singapore.
As the lights dim and as the crowd made their way to the exit, it cemented my initial impression I had of Laufey—a full package. She is an instrument on her own that needs no frills; with a soulful voice and tender personality. A truly captivating and unique artist from the new generation that everyone needs to have on their radar.
This article originally appeared on Men’s Folio Singapore.
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