Live Review: Laufey @ Palais Theatre, Melbourne

The term “trailblazer” is seldom rightfully appointed, but in the case of Laufey (pronounced lay-vay), it fits just right. The LA-based Icelandic-Chinese artist has repopularised an entire genre of music, making jazz accessible and cool to a whole new generation, presenting timeless arrangements through a uniquely confessional twentysomething lens, all with enchanting effect.

Since the release of her debut EP, Typical Of Me, in 2021, Laufey has released two studio albums: Everything I Know About Love in 2022 and Bewitched in 2023. The latter set a record for the biggest debut by a jazz album on Spotify and went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. 

Following her inaugural visit in 2023, Laufey opened the sold-out Australian leg of her Bewitched: The Goddess Tour at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre last night, and while one might imagine a jazz concert to be a demure occasion, the atmosphere felt more like the Era’s Tour than a sophisticated speakeasy, with the vast twentysomething crowd dressed to the nines in Laufeycore (think coquettish meets regencycore) and a merch line to rival any stadium show.  

The soiree began with Filipino-Australian singer/songwriter grentperez. Hailing from Western Sydney, grentperez has been posting acoustic covers on YouTube for ten years and touring steadily since the release of his sophomore EP Conversations With The Moon in 2022. Serving music made for cocktail hour, grentperez performed eight breezy tunes, including Why I Love You and My Heart It Beats For You, effortlessly mingling soulful R&B and a carefree indie vibe with a voice so smooth it blurs the line between music and ASMR.

Between songs, grentperez pondered the meaning of love and joked with the audience about his questionable guitar skills, all to endearing effect. The audience was also treated to two unreleased songs, including Girl At The Station before the set closed with his bossa nova hit Cherry Wine. 

Dressed in mauve and set against a backdrop of shimmering constellations, Laufey enchanted the room for the next ninety minutes. Rooted in nostalgia, hers are songs for those who believe in a romanticised version of life, where days are spent browsing bookstores, perusing markets, and delighting in froyo.  

The wistfully fragile While You Were Sleeping and Valentine opened the set before Laufey glided into the delicately heartbreaking Second Best. Speaking to the crowd, she told fans, “I love your little accents,” while admitting that her Icelandic accent has all but faded after five years in LA. 

Joined by an eight-piece band, Laufey spent the evening rotating between guitar, cello, and piano, demonstrating her absurdly impressive musical dexterity. But her greatest attribute remains her timelessly lush voice, reminiscent of the ‘40s and ‘50s. Heard in its full, resonate glory, Laufey’s voice stunned the crowd into pin-drop silence. 

Playfully performed, Dreamer resembled a golden-age MGM show tune, while Falling Behind felt beachy and bossa nova with its clever lyrical wordplay and boppy sound. Exchanging her guitar for the cello, Beautiful Stranger is a conversational love song set during a morning commute. Still on cello, Laufey delivered the first cover of the night in I Wish You Love by Keely Smith. 

The second cover was Erroll Garner’s jazz standard Misty, which Laufey performed in conjunction with her original Like The Movies. Quintessentially comforting, Laufey’s Like The Movies felt like the musical orchestration of a Nora Efron film.

Meanwhile, each twinkling piano keystroke during Let You Break My Heart Again could belong to an Alan Menken score, but it’s the piano arrangement on California And Me that is most dazzling live. However, one of the loudest reactions of the night came during the opening notes of Goddess when Laufey’s porcelain voice glistened. 

Only days away from celebrating the first anniversary of Bewitched, Laufey’s performance of the title track lived up to its namesake as she held the audience spellbound. In comparison, the melodramatic Bored had Laufey waltzing and acting whimsically as she chatted to fans about the ick of ankle socks, skinny jeans, and men with egos. 

The biggest reaction of the night came during her most popular song, From The Start. The bossa nova number about unrequited love features the line “Listening to you harp on ‘bout some new soulmate / ‘She’s so perfect’, blah, blah, blah,” with the crowd shouting the latter part of the lyric. The screaming peaked moments later when Laufey was joined onstage by her identical twin sister Junia. Dressed in blue satin pyjamas, complete with feathered trim, Junia played the violin as Laufey twirled around her like some sort of 1950s slumber party fever dream. Junia also acts as Laufey’s creative director, and for that, she should be applauded as the synergy between Laufey’s evocative voice and charming aesthetic leaves a positively enchanting impression. 

Befittingly, the night ended with the sentimental lullaby Letter To My 13-Year-Old Self – a tear-jerking song of reassurance and having faith in one’s dreams, and as she closed the first of three sold-out shows in Melbourne, it seems Laufey’s dream of bringing jazz to the masses has come true.