Laufey’s Night At The Symphony: Hollywood Bowl documents a singer on the rise

Laufey, the Icelanic-Chinese jazz-pop gem, has been a topic of debate when it comes to genre placement. Inspired by both Ella Fitzgerald and Taylor Swift, her sound has been informed by bossa nova, jazz, classical music — and being raised in a family of classical violinists. Key witnesses to her rapid rise to fame are the walls of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, where she grew up imbued with music, and performed at age 15 as a solo cellist. However, her list of references doesn’t end there. She’s also been taking notes from Swift and Billie Eilish. The resulting sonic landscape is something sparklingly fresh and new school, while simultaneously timeless — and excitingly difficult to put one’s finger on. 

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She’s put out two albums since her debut single charted back in 2020. Everything I Know About Love in 2022, and the following year Bewitched was released. With a backbone that shouts out Chet Baker and the like, lyrically, across both albums, Laufey’s buoyant take on pop rises to the surface. With a striking resemblance to Judy Garland, in a low, warm tone and scat cadence, her tongue rolling back, the young artist sings to the tune of love and heartbreak, leaving adolescence and entering adulthood. And though it’s been deemed “old-time pop” by The New York Times, on beloved track “Dreamer” from her sophomore album, she details crying over boys, with a quip, “As far as I’m concerned, this bitch is numb to love.” Among her fans, a dedicated and amassing group mostly ranging from teenagers to their early 20s, that line always gets a rousing response during live sets. It’s relatable.

Though she’s fairly green to the scene, her style and sound are anything but. Laufey’s has been a remarkable story to watch, only reinforced by the contrast between her hyper-personal lyrics, detailing her first little apartment above a Chinese restaurant, and the fact that she recently played her largest show yet, backed by the legendary LA Philharmonic at a sold-out Hollywood Bowl. Not to mention, the entire evening was filmed by Sam Wrench, who directed Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, the concert film.

On Tuesday evening in LA, Laufey’s very own IMAX film premiered, a project headed and produced by Veeps. The 90-minute film, Laufey’s Night At The Symphony: Hollywood Bowl, is a true gift to her fans, the “Lauvers,” who have an opportunity to witness what will always be a cherished stepping stone in her career, and her life. Peppered with behind-the-scenes, intimate moments, we see Laufey float through her newly adopted hometown of Los Angeles in a Cadillac — a longstanding pipe dream of hers, she says, alongside playing with the LA Phil, with a rumbling giggle — and work through nerves with her twin sister before walking onstage. 

It’s been said that not only is Laufey’s style a motif for her music itself, but she often dresses with the venue in mind. Throughout the ethereal film, this is as evident as ever. Pre-intermission, playing with her own young and eclectic band, she dons a short, gauzy black pouf of a dress and shiny blue knee-high boots while twirling and tapping across the stage like an endearingly awkward Ginger Rogers. During the second act, with the LA Phil, she emerges in a floor-length pink gown, complete with giant bows on each shoulder. There are sparkles, and there may very well be pin curls, and now she’s steady, and gliding.

The Hollywood Bowl opened in 1921, home to theater, opera, classical music, and then jazz — and remained specific to those purposes until 1943, when the first pop artist, Frank Sinatra, graced the stage. Since, it has been home not only to the Philharmonic Association but has hosted a slew of heroes on both ends of Laufey’s musical spectrum, including both Fitzgerald and Eilish, as well as Louis Armstrong and Adele. Needless to say, emotions were running high, a swarm of giddiness and gratitude that swept from the stage to the floor, and now to audiences in theaters across the country. Whether you like pop, jazz, classical, an amalgamation of the lot, or none at all — the experience is a marvel. It’s not every day that we get to see a form of music revived, related to, and really seen so by a new audience, demographic, or generation. But Laufey has done this, so naturally and authentically that it appears almost by mistake. She’s certainly someone worth getting to know. The film will be out in cinemas and IMAX theaters Dec. 6.