“I grew up playing classical music and it’s so special to get to play my songs almost in this chamber-like setting,” Laufey says in her performance. Accompanied by a string quartet, the singer-songwriter’s modern jazz-pop love songs soared at the Tiny Desk, the intimacy of our little corner only heightened its impact.

Laufey’s music undeniably bridges the gap between jazz and younger, mainstream audiences coming to the genre. Her sophomore album, Bewitched, broke Spotify’s all-time streaming record for a jazz debut ever in the platform’s history and resulted in her first Grammy nomination. She opens the set with “From The Start,” a bouncy, whimsical tune about unrequited love with a friend, connecting Chet Baker-like scats with charming and playful lyrics. Taking a more melancholic turn into 2021’s “Let You Break My Heart Again” and “Promise,” her velvety vocals rich with vulnerability dance elegantly with the strings, creating a symphony of emotions. Laufey concludes the set with “California and Me,” which she explains was heavily influenced by her receiving her first baby grand and compositions by Liszt and Chopin. This mesmerizing performance is a captivating testament to the power of collaboration and music’s ability to evoke raw, unfiltered emotion.

— Ashley Pointer | December 13, 2023

SET LIST
“From The Start”
“Let You Break My Heart Again”
“Promise”
“California and Me”

MUSICIANS
Laufey Jónsdóttir: piano, guitar, vocals
Sherri Zhang: violin
Josh Henderson: violin
Aria Cheregosha: viola
Ken Kubota: cello

TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Ashley Pointer
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin
Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Maia Stern
Audio Assistant: Neil Tevault
Production Assistant: Elle Mannion
Photographer: Estefania Mitre
Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Hazel Cills
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#nprmusic #tinydesk #laufey