If you ever wanted to know who is on your favorite singer's playlist, or what albums inspired the latest “it girl” the most, tune in for Marie Claire’s resident music franchise Listen Up. In this interview series, we ask musicians about their listening habits and the specific records that informed their taste—and inherently their journey as an artist.
In the less than three years since the release of Laufey’s debut album, Everything I Know About Love, the 26-year-old has been dubbed a “Gen Z jazz icon” for introducing pop fans to music inspired by old standards.
Her magic touch and fantastical flourishes are all over her forthcoming album, A Matter of Time, due out August 22. In the album’s promotional imagery, the Grammy-winner channels a sorceress casting spells, and the tracks are named after fairy tales and feature stunning orchestrals resonating of early Walt Disney scores. Growing up, Laufey tells Marie Claire via email, she related the most to the bookish Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but she’s far from a damsel in distress in the lyrics on her new release.
Instead, the musician was eager to explore “female rage.” “As I spend more years in my 20s and learn more about love, I’ve experienced so many emotions beyond ‘sad’ or ‘happy,’ and I wanted to write about them.”
She’s also come to embrace how impossible it is to define her, be it her genre-defying artistry or her personality. “I’ve learned that I am a lot more flexible than I thought as a child,” she says. “Growing up, I thought that I would get the most out of life if I put myself in the right boxes and learned the right rules. It wasn’t until I was forced to explore what life looked like outside of my rules and boxes when I found myself as a person and as an artist.”
Here, Laufey shares the classic jazz artists who continue to inspire her, the aughties pop divas she still listens to, and the Mitski song she wishes she wrote.
I was obsessed with Golden Age movie musicals growing up, so I’d have to say [the soundtracks to] The Sound of Music or An American in Paris. I just love the sweeping orchestral music and waltzy dancing.
The first album I bought with my own money was a Miley Cyrus CD.
Chet Baker Sings. I remember listening to it at home; my dad had it on CD.
An evening in a Shanghai jazz club in the ‘30s!
The ending of La La Land always gets me.
I discover a lot through what my fans are listening to, honestly. Other than that, I get most of my music recommendations from my twin sister. I don’t make playlists; I just save hers!
Cowboy Carter. It was the most magical show from start to finish. The way it blended Beyoncé’s eras and included different sounds from different areas of music felt like a deep dive through the history of American music and dance.
I have a Bill Evans cap that I’m obsessed with.
“My Love Mine All Mine” [by Mitski].
I’m going to have to go with some old masters. I think an all-female lineup would be so cool, so Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Julie London.
Recently, I’ve been listening to Tom Odell.
I have two modes: Either I’m listening to pop hits—currently on a K-pop kick—or classical music, no in-between.
I love listening to Adrienne Lenker or Nat King Cole.
2000s pop bangers! Destiny’s Child, Rihanna, Fergie, Lady Gaga.
Probably the entirety of [the A Matter of Time track] “Snow White,” especially the lyrics, “Mirrors tell lies to me / My mind just plays along.” It’s my favorite because, though the lyrics are a bit brutal, it strangely helped me with my insecurities.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
