Whimsical and romantic, the music of Icelandic singer and cellist Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir blends pop, jazz, classical and bossa nova – a « mishmash, » she calls it. Her latest album is « A Matter of Time. »
Laufey’s music may not be what you usually think of as « pop », but if pop is short for popular, then she is indeed a pop star. The 26-year-old Icelander has earned a devoted following blending modern lyrics and music with classical and jazz. « My music is such a combination of the sounds of my childhood », she said. « It’s just something that’s become a part of me. I wanted to make things that made me happy.
« I loved Golden Age musicals », said Laufey. « I’d watch ‘Carousel’ and ‘Oklahoma’ and ‘American in Paris’ and ‘Sound of Music.’ They were so beautiful and had these dance breaks and the dresses were floating and the colors – that feeling I got from that, I just wanted to create that feeling. »
The world she inhabits (in her work, anyway) is whimsical and romantic, full of windswept cliffs, frilly dresses and bows … and cello, almost always cello.
Watch Laufey perform « I Wish You Love » with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra:
She says the cello is « as important to me as my voice. And I think it’s really what makes a Laufey song a Laufey song. »
Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir comes by it naturally. Her Icelandic father introduced her to jazz when she was a girl; her Chinese mother played classical violin. So does Laufey’s identical twin sister.
Growing up, she said, she felt different: « Everyone was like, you know, going to play soccer after school or dance, and I was sitting down and playing music from the 17th century. And then on top that I was a twin, identical twin.
