By Jenna Rittman
Correspondent
“Bewitched” by singer-songwriter Laufey is an album with a perfect mix of jazz and bedroom-pop elements. The album, released on Sept. 8, is Laufey’s second studio album.
Laufey, born Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir, is an Icelandic-Chinese singer-songwriter. She released her first single, “Street by Street,” in 2020, and her first EP, “Typical of Me,” in 2021. The same year, she also released her single “Let You Break My Heart Again” with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and it went viral on TikTok. She dropped her first album, “Everything I Know About Love” in 2022.
At its core, “Bewitched” is an album about love, including both romantic love and self-love.
“Dreamer” starts the album off and is a song about wanting to give up on romance. She sings about how “no boy is going to kill the dreamer in me,” and also, “As far as I’m concerned, this witch is numb to love.” This song showcases her jazz influences, especially at the beginning of the song, where she double-tracks her voice. It sounds very dreamy.
The next song on the album, “Second Best,” is about loving someone who has someone else on their mind. This is a very mellow, heart-breaking song and is one of my favorite songs off of the album.
“Haunted” is a song talking about hooking up with someone who may not actually love you. This is also a very mellow song, and I love the orchestral elements at the beginning and end of this song. The orchestral instruments complement the guitar and drum very well.
The fourth song on the album, “Must Be Love,” is where Laufey sings about liking someone, and how she wants the person to convince her that it must be love. She sings, “You made a sappy stupid something out of me.” This is another dreamy song off of the album, and I feel like this song showcases her vocals well.
The succeeding two songs, “While You Were Sleeping” and “Lovesick,” also discuss love. “While You Were Sleeping” describes the moment when you realize you are truly in love with your partner. This song gives the same energy as in movies, when people realize they are in love, sometimes they will prance down streets and have a whole musical number. This is another one of my favorite songs from the album. “Lovesick” conveys the unyielding yearning that you can have for another person.
The next few songs, “California and Me,” “Promise” and “From The Start,” are three out of the four singles Laufey released before the entire album was released, with “Bewitched” at the very end of the record. Out of these four, I like “California and Me” and “From The Start” the most, but all of them are amazing in their own way.
The song “Letter To My 13 Year Old Self” particularly stuck out to me in this album. In this song, Laufey reassures her younger self about growing up, and that in the future, she will grow up to be a successful artist. She tells her younger self to not worry about reaching milestones, like having her first kiss, and that she is beautiful the way she is.
The track “Bewitched” ends the album off with Laufey singing about how someone bewitched her from the moment she kissed them. The beginning of this song is so magical; it reminds me of fantasy movies, with the orchestral and band instruments in the background. This is a song that I could listen to forever.
Overall, “Bewitched” is a dreamy and magical album about falling in love, what comes with falling in love and loving yourself. Laufey’s vocals and her incorporation of both orchestra and band instruments make it seem as though you are floating through the clouds. I truly look forward to what music she produces next. If you are into jazz or bedroom pop, this album might be for you.
