“I wonder how to make this intro spicy,” Laufey muses over the piano, then begins to play the opening notes to the 1954 jazz standard “Misty.” It was one of two covers the Icelandic singer-songwriter performed during her first Manila concert last May 30. The show sold out in minutes; Laufey herself said at the concert that it was also the biggest crowd she’s ever performed in front of [at the time]. It was, indeed a large crowd, but also an adoring one: the majority of audience members wore a mix of cottagecore, balletcore, and hints of Victorian gothic — reminiscent of Laufey’s own personal style; K-pop inspired headbands with the artist’s face were sold outside the venue for ₱150; and most importantly, the crowd sang through her concert like it was karaoke night.
Laufey kicked off her sold-out Asia and Australia tour in Manila, which also brought her to Taipei, Singapore, Jakarta, Tokyo, Sydney, and Melbourne. Getting her start on social media during the pandemic, this tour is a big first for the musician, who says it’s a pleasure to be able to bring jazz to younger audiences.
Despite the huge turnout, there was a sense of intimacy to the show, perhaps because she opted to play on her own by alternating between guitar and piano. In between songs about handsome strangers and future soulmates, the 24-year-old singer shared crumbs about the story behind her lyrics. After the crowd cheered for an encore, she leaked a preview of a song called “Promise,” a song, she says, is “about someone you can’t shake.”
‘ ’52’: ‘image’: ‘jcr:4ef7ea09-3f7e-43b5-bdfc-5e8e46146283’ ‘imageCaption’: ‘Manila was the first stop of Laufey’s “Everything I Know About
Although the depth and breadth of Laufey’s musicality shines brightest in her orchestra-accompanied performances (“Let You Break My Heart Again” with the Philharmonia Orchestra is a Disney classic waiting to happen), her stripped down set in Manila highlighted how personal her work truly is. Much like the jazz covers she played during the show, Laufey’s lyrics are literal but evocative and romantic — delivered in a croon that could lull babies to sleep. As far as live performances go, Laufey has no need to make anything particularly spicy. All she has to do is sing, and people will listen.
Hours before her Manila concert, CNN Philippines Life spoke to the singer-songwriter about kilig, her sold out tour, and her upcoming album.
Welcome to Manila! Not a question, but I googled “Laufey new album” and for some reason one of the question prompts that came up was “Is Laufey Filipino?”
Oh really? I know, people ask me that a lot. Maybe it’s like the mixed Asian aspect. I’m half-Chinese, but I’m very honored. They’re the most beautiful people in the world, so I’d love to be mistaken for Filipino.
I was going to say, since the topic of your songs usually has a hopeless romantic vibe and Filipinos love songs about love and unrequited love.
We’re already on the same wavelength then (Laughs).
Ahead of your show, I want to teach you some Filipino words related to love. The first one is kilig. It means the butterflies you get in your stomach.
Kilig. Aww that’s so cute. That’s very Laufey. I feel like if I would write in Filipino, that word would come up a lot.
The next word is hugot. It’s like when you’re drawing out feelings.
Hugot. Those are all very pretty words.
Now that we have the Filipino lesson out of the way – since your tour is sold out in Asia and Australia, is there anything you’re excited to see or do?
I’m just excited to see this part of the world. I’ve never been to Southeast Asia, I’ve never been to Australia, so I think that’s the main thing. I’ve heard so much about the Philippines, for example. I have a lot of fans from the Philippines in the States as well so I hear about it a lot.
’18’: ‘image’: ‘jcr:d6906c92-111f-4654-81ee-38bd4a46ead2’ ‘imageCaption’: ‘Hours before her Manila concert, CNN Philippines Life spoke to the singer-songwriter about kilig, her sold out tour, and her upcoming
So since you’ve been touring for the past two years, what do you think is the most important thing or things you’ve learned on tour?
I think [it’s] getting enough sleep. That’s gonna guarantee the best performance. I think also, just be kind to the people around you. Touring can be a very stressful thing and people at the venue, and people that you’re touring with, it can get kind of stressful toward the end and we’re all trying to get to the same final goal. Also be kind to the fans who come and spend their time and energy to come.
That’s nice! So it’s more of a personal thing rather than a music thing?
Musically, I think accepting that every night is going to be different. Sometimes you go up and you sing your best performance in the world and then the next night, maybe I’ll personally feel like my voice wasn’t as good, and I feel like all of the audience might not hear a difference and I hear a difference. Just knowing that it’s not going to be the same every night spares a lot of mental anxiety.
I think I’m pretty good when it comes to live performance. There’s a magic in every night having its own imperfections. I think nobody is coming to a concert to watch recordings of you. They want to see the real you. So I think there’s beauty in the imperfections. But when I’m recording for music, like for an album, yeah definitely a perfectionist.
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So you really start over if you don’t feel it’s good yet?
Oh yeah. Yeah.
Even with a live band?
Yes. Yes exactly (Laughs).
Related to your learning from the tour, you just released a new single and since you’re already done with the album. How differently did you approach this era of music compared to your previous two releases?
Well, my previous two releases were kind of just collections of all the songs I’ve written so far. So I had these songs ready and I put them together for the last album and it became \”Everything I Know About Love.\” Whereas with this album, I already knew what the title of the album would be before I started writing it. And I wrote it kind of from scratch. I sat down in December and I had all these ideas for titles and concepts. I sat down and I wrote it from zero, and I recorded it and finished it. So I wrote it with more intention that way, and I think it was very cool to get to prove to myself that I could do that because I was a little scared that I wouldn’t be able to.
I’m excited to see what stories are going to be in the songs.
Yeah it’s definitely very, again, taking from my personal experiences which is fun.
Now that you’ve fulfilled so many dreams, is there anything else on your bucket list?
It’s so funny, I’ve been able to cross so much off my bucket list so I guess I needed to dream a little bigger. I’d love to win a Grammy someday or be nominated for a Grammy. I want to write for film, I’d love to write the James Bond song. That’s definitely one of my dream goals. And just to be able to have a long sustainable career is kind of the goal.
The James Bond song [dream] is pretty big. I can see that happening.
