Laufey – A Matter of Time
On a Matter of Time, Laufey conjures a fairytale world woven from jazz, pop and a ticking clock
Laufey’s long-awaited third album is a storybook of hidden truths and time’s curse. The opening chimes of Clockwork signal our return to Laufey Land. Through twisting fairytales, we see past facades. The rosy Lover Girl fades into Snow White, where beauty standards are dissected through this fairytale icon. With gentle guitars and cascading strings, Laufey puts it plainly: 'A woman's best currency is her body, not her brain'. She tricks us through twinkling sugary keys in Carousel, scorning her tendency to sabotage relationships.
Laufey dashes between flushes of romance and laments of lost love. Lover Girl, this record’s From the Start, wears the strongest rose-coloured glasses. Similarly colloquial breakup anthem Tough Luck is nevertheless an arena-ready belter. While opener Clockwork lays cards of romantic destiny, the ticking time bomb rhythm of A Cautionary Tale foretells its demise and her unbroken cycle of heartbreak. In closer Sabotage, she becomes the one cautioning: 'It's just a matter of time 'til you see the dagger’. Gentle pianos are ambushed by screeching tremolos – the storybook is closed.
If previous releases made Laufey Gen Z’s jazz-pop queen, A Matter of Time affirms that title.
Listen to: A Cautionary Tale, Snow White, Too Little, Too Late