Laufey's genre-blending jazz pop wins Grammy, explores love and chaos

Icelandic jazz-pop musician Laufey Jónsdóttir has won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for her album 'A Matter of Time', released in August 2024. The album, themed around a relationship's arc, incorporates new sounds like soul and Brazilian rhythms, and features a ticking clock motif. Laufey, who studied at Berklee College of Music, blends classic jazz vocals with confessional lyrics, drawing from her classical training in piano and cello from age four in Reykjavik. The deluxe version includes the single 'Mad Woman', whose music video involved slapping actor Hudson Williams with a prop red snapper, filmed in Los Angeles with a 1960s aesthetic. Laufey performed two sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena in March 2025, and has collaborated with Fortnite. She cites influences including Taylor Swift and her late grandfather, a professor at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music. Her twin sister Junia serves as creative director.