As a clock’s bells chime, vocals delicately recite “ding-dong” transitioning into a rhythmic melody, opening Laufey’s fourth studio album, A Matter of Time. The Icelandic-Chinese singer and songwriter frames the plethora of emotions and feelings in her lyrics and melodies that are experienced through romance, as well as how feeling endearment towards others can construct identity. Laufey’s newest album is a lyrical, ethereal, and complex reflection of personal discovery through love in an experimentation of her classic jazzy pop style.
Laufey’s distinctive style is derived from how she blends musical genres. She composes her music by incorporating genres like jazz, bossa nova, and classical into pop, creating a fulfilling combination due to her layering of sound and composition of her melodies. In A Matter of Time, she emphasizes the ethereal quality she typically has in her music, which comes from her use of orchestral instruments like the cello, violin, and upright bass, as well as other classic instruments like the piano and guitar. However, in this album, Laufey experiments with her style, forming more haunting and artistically imbalanced melodies. This is especially evident in her song Sabotage, which is the final track on the album, where there are sporadic moments of turbulent instrumental, forming an almost demonic characteristic. Her arrangements for this album are emotionally evocative, layering a multitude of melodies for the instruments, creating that classical and dreamy feeling. Paired with the rhythmic tempo of some of the songs, it also infuses a jazzy and bossa nova style, harmoniously combining genres and maintaining a whimsical and unique energy.
As professional and ornate as the melodies were, the lyrics were not as impressive or stunning. The album meditated on the complexities that came with relationships through a personal lens, discussing positive and negative feelings that came with relationships. Laufey is able to project the meaning behind each song eloquently and with poetic tones; however, a lot of her lyrical choices felt clichéd and too literal. This caused her prose to feel underdeveloped and like she was telling instead of showing. An example of this is in her song Clockwork. She sings, “Like me, he probably had to regurgitate,” then, “Damn, he’s smiling, starin’ back at me//We’re at the arcade, think it’s going perfectly.” These lyric decisions cause the song to feel awkward because of how straightforward and undescriptive they are, counteracting with the poetic connotations of her songs. However, Laufey’s vocals made up for the discrepancies, elegantly pairing with the melody. Her voice is stylistic, defined by a strong expressiveness that has a performative and almost theatrical sound, providing her songs with a distinctive and emotional verve.
The majority of the songs in A Matter of Time were enjoyable to say the least. From Cuckoo Ballet – Interlude, a bewitching orchestral instrumental that beautifully incorporates important melodies from the album, to Clean Air, a charming and catchy take on country, Laufey presents a bouquet of memorable tracks that have a variety of personalities.
However, some songs were disappointing. Track 11, A Cautionary Tale, had a repetitive melody that lacked interest and individuality. Another song, Too Little, Too Late, started with a simple melody, but soon formed a promising buildup. As the climax of the chorus approached, tension increased, yet it fell flat, making the song feel unfinished. Even so, the song had a lot of potential and most of the chorus was enchanting.
This album had an assortment of connotations and tones that came from multiple elements of its production. The detail pushed it to reach that feeling. A Matter of Time’s main theme aside from its discussion of romance is time itself. Throughout the album, there are multiple nuances that reference things like timepieces. A clock’s ticking and chiming can be heard in the background of multiple tracks, like Cuckoo Ballet – Interlude and Clockwork. The titles of those songs, along with the lyrics within them, mention time and instruments related to them, continuing the theme. This album also felt cinematic due to the narratives told in the lyrics paired with the technicality of each refrain and its performative notion.
Ultimately, Laufey’s newest album, A Matter of Time, was satisfactory and a successful experimentation of her musical style. The album is ideal for people who enjoy a mix of genres, incorporating classical, bossa nova, jazz, and pop, complemented by dreamy and simple lyrics into a satisfying mix. For those who do not enjoy slower, expressive songs that experiment with musical groups and have drawn-out tempos and pacing, this album would not be enjoyable. Overall, listening to A Matter of Time is worth it because it introduces other genres that aren’t as popular in newer generations, artfully combining them into something distinguishing and refreshing.
