Laufey review: Icelandic star delights with jazz-tinged pop at 3Arena, Dublin
A recent image of Laufey, who performed at 3Arena in Dublin on Friday. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for for iHeartRadio)
★★★★☆
When you picture the audience at a jazz or classical concert, what do you see? Likely, it isn’t an arena made up mostly of teenagers, but then, you probably aren’t familiar with Laufey.
Laufey (pronounced lay-vay) Lín Bing Jónsdóttir is a songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. At just 26, the Grammy Award-winning Icelandic-Chinese star is considered a key part of Gen Z’s roster of pop stars, but her brand of jazz- and classical-infused pop feels entirely her own.
Midway through Friday night’s sold-out show at the 3Arena, Laufey pauses to reflect on just how unusual that rise has been.
“I grew up playing classical music and always dreamed of mixing orchestra with songwriting. I was scared nobody would listen... you guys really, really proved me wrong.”
Her show unfolds in five acts, backed by an eight-piece band featuring a strong string section and dancers who, at one moment, are channelling 1920s flappers, the next, en pointe in full tutus.
Laufey herself begins the night emerging from a fairytale castle, dressed in a princess ballgown complete with a twinkling skirt and sparkling block heels. The bossa nova syncopation of sparks the first arena-wide sing-along of the night — but there’s plenty more where that came from.
Across the nearly two-hour set, the Berkley College grad drifts easily between guitar (acoustic and electric), grand piano and cello, with clean, clearly classically-trained vocals shining throughout. We’re most intrigued when she strays slightly from that classic style, however, for example, on the fast-paced, hooky verse in the vein of Gracie Abrams on or the darker, more experimental turn on the moody which has elements of Olivia Rodrigo’s style.
There is plenty of crowd interaction too. A sign asking Laufey if she can “split the G” is spotted and a pint quickly appears. She attempts it, in two goes. A song later, having just had the two gulps, she admits she feels tipsy. “I don’t drink on tour,” she says bashfully, “but I did it for the Irish.”
As the night winds down, she closes with the ever‑emotional a tender plea to her younger self to hold fast to her dreams, “Keep on going with your silly dream / Life is prettier than it may seem.”
Across the 3Arena, a sea of girls — many wearing felt crowns, some full-length gowns — gaze up at her wide-eyed.
Acknowledging there are likely other aspiring artists in the crowd, she says, with feeling: “I want this song to inspire you all to follow your dreams. I certainly didn’t think anyone would want to listen to mine.”
How lucky for us that she did.
