Laufey first came onto the music scene with the duty of introducing jazz music into the modern-day music world. During the never-ending times of the pandemic, Laufey was going viral on TikTok for her whimsical music that seemingly had never garnered that much attention from the younger generation before. However, she found numerous successes almost instantly, leading her to her debut album, “Everything I Know About Love,” and the album that led her to her Grammy win, “Bewitched.” In 2025, Laufey would release her 3rd studio album, “A Matter Of Time,” an album that contains 14 songs and is 45 minutes long.
Right off the bat, this album held a very different aesthetic to her previous albums, leaning more towards blue colors, celestial backgrounds, and even a new sound to her discography and fans were more than excited for what Laufey had in store for them next. When describing her construction for this album, Laufey described it as “snippets from her diary,” exploring themes from self-identity to complexities that come with relationships, both platonic and romantic. Aaron Dessner was the main producer for this album; with it he contributed a “louder” sound to Laufey’s music than previously expressed before, making this album feel almost like a new side to Laufey with its modern-sounding edge, while still possessing elements that her fans hold near and dear to their hearts.
The third track is named “Snow White.” In this song, the themes of self-identity as well as the struggles of being a woman are mainly prominent. However, we are able to have a different perspective in this song with the lyrics, “They try to tell me, tell me I’m wrong/but mirrors tell lies to me, my mind just plays along,” and we get a look into that while she may be everything that society deems to be perfect. Whether it be from fans, family, or even herself, she still cannot bring herself to believe that she is everything she wants to be. As the song develops, we get more heart-wrenching lyrics, which is a quality nothing new to Laufey with songs in her previous albums, such as “Magnolia” and “Letter To My 13 Year Old Self.” The more the song builds up, we still remain in a constant chord progression, but it almost feels like the chords are elongated by the string instruments they are played on, furthering a more intense, invasive feel from the song that works hand in hand with the lyrics, finally making the listener feel like there is a tug on their heart as they listen.
The seventh track, “Too Little, Too Late,” digs into the nitty-gritty of the regret and sorrow after a relationship has ended; however, what encapsulates listeners to this song so much is its use of parallelism and tonal shifts used throughout the song, not to mention that Laufey sings the song from the perspective of a man. The perspective of the song isn’t just grieving the relationship they just had and drowning in sorrow, but rather full of regret and admitting the places where they were wrong when the relationship was still happening. This is explicitly shown with the lyrics, “To tell you I should’ve chased ‘cross every single state/I lay down my sword for fate/’cause it’s too little way too late” This song isn’t only about the narrator’s regret, but we also see a whole arc in the final stages of grief, from depression, to bargaining with the slightest chance their love could return, to accepting that it is over and that love they once had is truly gone. The ultimate consensus is that there is no fixing your wrongs because it is too late. This track beautifully encapsulated the complexities of the post-factors of a relationship and how the human heart deals with not only its mistakes but also the concept of letting go and moving on from the person you once held so dearly.
This album is able to express a whole new side to Laufey, one that is both vulnerable and true to herself. With her vulnerability shining through, she is able to reach a wider audience that deeply resonates with her lyrics, as well as bring her closer to her adoring fans. Laufey starts her “A Matter of Time” tour on Sept. 18 in Orlando, Florida, where she will kick off her very first arena stadium-level tour; a tour in which all of her adoring fans will gather their blue skirts and felt crowds to attend to.
