✨🤍LIVE, LOVE, LAUFEY✨🤍

Laufey’s rise in Asia was definitely on our radar for 2024. Since we last covered her, the singer-songwriter has been on an upward trajectory – from winning a Grammy to selling out her Singapore concert in under 10 minutes, Laufey has single-handedly revived classic jazz with her hauntingly sultry voice.

Her Asian fanbase is are some of the most engaged (Quezon City ranks third globally for streaming her music), leading to milestones like her first-ever arena show in the Philippines, performing for a 7,000-strong crowd in Singapore, and sold-out stops in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

But her success is Asia stretches beyond numbers. In a space that celebrates bold redefinitions of womanhood, Laufey’s soft approach to lyricism and nuanced take on femininity represents a deeper cultural duality. Read on for more!

💡OUR TAKE 

Let’s start with Laufey’s Wasian background. Half Icelandic, half Chinese, she recently shared in an interview with Vogue Singapore that she was raised with the “Asian school of parenting”.  In other words, while her friends were on playdates, she was busy with music lessons and her school vacations often involved traveling across China with her maternal grandparents. For many young Asians, Laufey’s biracial background reflects the cognitive dissonance of blending Eastern and Western cultures. Unsurprisingly, her sense of displacement from a nomadic and multicultural lifestyle resonates deeply with her Asian fanbase, many of whom navigate similar challenges in balancing inherited customs and personal identities developed through their experiences.

Her 2024 Grammy win for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and her performance alongside Billy Joel, another Gen Z favorite, further challenge traditional beliefs around what it takes to achieve pop stardom. Laufey’s success is testament that even the quiet girl who goes for music practice after school can one day stand on the Grammy stage.  A kind of challenging the status-quo us Asians can get behind for it’s subtle ways.

It’s not possible to talk about Laufey without talking about representation, which the artist herself is keenly aware of. The music video for Goddess starred William Gao (of Heartstopper fame) and placed two Asian performers at the center of a complex love story. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Laufey described it as an opportunity to “show kids in the audience that this is entirely a possibility… I hope it was another building block for those opportunities to happen for anybody.”

Which brings us to Laufey’s unique take on romance and femininity. Her celebration of ruffled dresses, bows and pastel pink showcases a dimension of femininity that is often underrepresented but familiar to many young women in Asia, who navigate binary notions of womanhood. Laufey’s music doesn’t seek to subvert traditional gender dynamics nor does she attempt to decenter men. Instead, she pairs the Great American Songbook with modern day sentiments and her personal style to create a distinctive tale on the complexities of traditional femininity – evoking a sense of familiarity and providing listeners a comforting return to a girlhood that was simpler and more carefree.

Laufey’s unassuming nature, with her vintage sound, makes her equally endearing to the older demographics (i.e. Asian parents). She’s uncontroversial yet possesses a multidimensional persona—evidenced by her book club, handmade gifts for fans, and strong family ties (Laufey’s twin is her creative director and joins her on tour). In an industry that leans into hyper-individualism, Laufey’s brand is rooted in kinship.  Laufey’s success lies in her ability to challenge the status quo while remaining authentically herself, and this might just be the secret to her remarkable appeal in Asia.

For those of you born before 1997, ‘fax, no printer‘ is Gen Z speak for ‘undeniable facts I agree with’

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