Laufey is an Icelandic singer, who found her roots in the unique genre of jazz-pop music. Her rise to fame came from her songs going viral on different social media platforms, specifically Instagram and TikTok. However, her music has shifted away from the TikTok sensation, taking a more conventional means of gaining an audience. Laufey’s Goddess Tour to mark her first international debut, holding concerts across several states performing her Grammy award-winning album, Bewitched.
Laufey’s Goddess tour concert was performed at Houston’s 713 Music Hall on April 20, and throughout the concert, I followed her on a journey of her love life: the successes, the failures and the missed opportunities.
Her stage portrayed that of the night filled with stars. Accompanying her was a drummer, keyboard player, pianist and a full quartet.
Her opening song was “While You Were Sleeping”, where she was introduced by the luminous first measures of the classical music piece, “Claire De Lune.” Sitting in my seat, next to me were some very passionate fans, tearing up as they listened to her sing. In fact, Laufey had quite possibly the calmest concert crowd imaginable, with fans sitting in their seats while singing along.
The calm crowd was similar to that of a symphony orchestra concert, not a Grammy award-winning pop artist. Playing classical music all my life, this was something that really drew me to Laufey’s music, as listening to her music was like synchronization of a full orchestra with a soothing pop music voice.
As she performed, she made little movements or dances, only occasionally dashing across the stage to reach different sections of the concert hall. Throughout each song she would occasionally change instruments, going from an acoustic guitar to a cello to an electric bass.
After songs like “Goddess”, she ranted about her past relationships and the failures that came with them. This song specifically was about how some people fall in love with the image she puts up in the media, but are surprised to see that she isn’t what they thought she was. She chalked these mistakes and misinterpretations to everyone “being human”. I think the message of human error in relationships is amazing, as no one can be perfect when it comes to the confusing subject of love. Love clouds our minds, and hazes us from thinking clearly.
One that especially resonated with me was when she sang “Beautiful Stranger”, where she described her story/common occurrence of seeing someone who catches your eye and you so happen to make eye contact with them. However, neither people have the courage to go up and talk to each other, so they are left wondering, what if.
I believe most people have seen someone in public who they would be interested in talking to, but they can never rack up the nerve to actually do it.
The surprise of the concert came when she sang (the then-unreleased song) “Bored,” from her newest album Bewitched: The Goddess Edition. The vibe of the concert hall was completely different, as no one knew the words to sing for the song. In the song, she described the feeling she sometimes has when she is in a relationship and her partner is just rambling on and she suddenly realizes she doesn’t have to listen to any of it. Her tone fell between a balance of complaining and complacency, while still maintaining the angelic voice she has in all of her songs.
Climax reached when she hit her last song on the set list, “From the Start” (her biggest song). Upon the first notes playing, the whole audience knew which song she was going to sing. Fans sang along and were met with a surprise when her twin sister, Júnía, ran onto the stage playing her violin, even having her own solo piece during the song.
However, that was not the only surprise of the night. After leaving the stage, some fans thought she was done and began to leave, but after an encore saying “one more song” she came back out to play one last song, “Letter to My 13-Year-Old Self.” During this song, for the first time during the concert, everyone was standing up. I was too caught up with all the commotion even to stop to think about what she was saying through the song. Before I knew it, the concert was over.
Overall, Laufey: The Goddess Tour was an amazing experience. The set list was iconic, and the stage set was simple yet well-designed. Her commentary after each song was grounded, and her singing was no different than the recordings. One critique is the lack of stage presence and few movements, but considering her audience and the calm nature of the fans it is fitting. They even gave a free bookmark for fans who did not want to spend large sums of money on merchandise.
Altogether, I give Laufey: The Goddess Tour a 9.5/10
Chloe Tran • May 7, 2024 at 3:23 pm
Love this article! I’m also glad this tour is getting a lot of love and attention, it shows that short form media has pushed many smaller music artists that would otherwise go unknown to a lot of the bigger name artists in pop and rap.