Why Laufey is selling out her every show

Who is Laufey and why is she selling out her every show? The question I have been getting a lot these days is “do you know Laufey?” Then, it is followed by “Do you know how I can get tickets to her show?” because tickets online to Laufey are already sold out.

The singer-composer was in Manila last July and she sold out her show. She will be back for two nights on May 28 and 29 at the PICC with the Manila Symphony Orchestra and tickets to those performances are also all sold out.

Not only that Laufey is starting a 33-city tour of Europe and of North America in February and every one of them, Ireland, Scotland, United Kingdom, Paris, Brussels, Hamburg, down to Vancouver, San Francisco, Nashville, New York, Boston, London, etc. is already all sold out. After Jakarta, Manila, and Seoul, of course, all sold out too.

Laufey is still a long way away from the billionaires’ club of concert artists. You know the likes of Taylor Swift and Elton John whose concert grosses reach the billion mark. But if her sold-out trend continues, she might soon be giving Swiftie stiff competition.

And what is even more remarkable is that Laufey sings jazz or as they call it at the Grammys where her album Bewitched is a nominee, her music is traditional pop. No dance or pop or hip-hop in her case. It is jazz with pop or classical accents. Her sound is a mixture that is in a class by itself.

Laufey was born Lin Bing Jonsdottir on April 23, 1999 to an Icelandic father and a Chinese mother from Guangzhou. Her mother is a violinist, while her grandfather was a violin professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in China. Her father was no musician, but he played a lot of music, mostly jazz by female artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.

As a result, Laufey grew up surrounded by music. She started learning the piano at age four, then the cello when she was eight. She became the cello soloist of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra when she was 15. She got her music degree from the Reykjavik College of Music where she was also a voice student. She later went to Berklee in the US for further studies.

Laufey is therefore this unusual mixture of Norse and Chinese culture, of western classical music, and of the amalgam of modern Asian, European and American music influences. Her sound is called jazz but her music is actually like nobody else’s.

The son of a friend introduced me to Laufey’s music last year. It looked like she was the in-girl singer to his young crowd. I was instantly hooked. Her singing echoes Ella but with full-bodied bel canto undertones. Her music blends jazz, pop and classical but the result is deceptively simple.

What I like best though is her lyrical language. Her words just fall naturally into every note. They are like letters set to music. Very personal. Her music just flows. Then that simplicity also translates into her looks. Her style has a retro vibe that comes across as timeless.

The Laufey uninitiated should start out by listening to the intimate Street by Street, then go to Typical of Me and then, to her cover of I Wish You Love. By the time you get to Valentine and Bewitched, I am sure you will be feeling caught up in the magic she weaves. She is pure enchantment.

How I love that she is introducing real music, the organic kind to young listeners. I love that she is sparking interest in jazz and the classics. I love it that her whimsical videos are creating a relaxed, anti-frenetic atmosphere for viewers. Her fans are enjoying the quiet, too. Why do you think they are buying all those tickets to her shows.