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TikTok jazz sensation Laufey: ‘It’s no longer about genre, it’s about feeling and mood’


As the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter begins a sellout world tour, she talks about how a ‘21st-century girl’ is making young fans nostalgic for a crooning jazz era they never knew

Famous fans include Billie Eilish, who cheered her on in February when she became the youngest person to win the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album – an award previously won by the likes of Tony Bennett, Joni Mitchell and Michael Bublé. Playing like TikTok’s answer to Norah Jones, Laufey is making crooning jazz palatable to teen audiences for the first time in decades, her torch songs harking back to a sepia-tinted world they have never known. I definitely felt like a foreigner, being one of the few Asians in Iceland Indeed, Laufey’s songwriting takes in every aspect of modern romance, from tales of spying a crush on the tube ( From the Start) to the emotional perils of situationships ( Promise), all couched in the warmth of her low-register, Ella Fitzgerald-referencing vocals.

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