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After previously teasing that a new album is on the way with a preliminary single, Laufey has formally revealed that her third full-length album is on the way, and released a second song from the project to give fans a further taste. Titled “A Matter of Time,” the forthcoming album from the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter will be out Aug. 22.
The new single she released Thursday, “Tough Luck,” reveals that a performer whose pop-jazz style has sometimes been seen as genteel is capable of working up a quiet rage, too. The sound of the new track is light, but the lyrics aren’t. It’s in a taking-no-prisoners-among-exes tradition that was set forth earlier by her previous album’s deluxe bonus track “Goddess.” Like that earlier song, this new one employs an F-bomb amid all her traditionally-minded music, showing that Laufey means business when she’s giving former beaus the business end of the stick.
“‘Tough Luck’ is a fiery song about love gone wrong,” Laufey said in a statement accompanying the new tune. “I wanted to reveal an angrier side of myself — a side that this unfortunate relationship brought out in me.”
Laufey worked with two producers on this third album: her steady from the beginning, Spencer Stuart, and a new collaborator, Aaron Dessner, of Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams and of course the National fame.
“I’m constantly thinking about classical and jazz, how to properly preserve them and pay homage,” she acknowledged in explaining the project, but “for this album, I just wanted to let my heart wander… People expect a pretty façade of girly clothes, fantastical stories and romantic music. This time, I was interested in seeing how I could draw out the most flawed parts of myself and look at them directly in the mirror.”
In “Tough Luck,” Laufey sings in the chorus, “I’ve had enough / Of waiting ’til you lie and cheat / Just like you did to the actress before me / Oops, she doesn’t even know / You won’t be missed, I’m glad to see you go.” Later, she laments how the subject of the song “demoralized, effaced me” and finds a pointed rhyme for the title phrase in these words: “The proof says you’re tragic as fuck.”
This third album for the U.S.-based Icelandic-Chinese singer will arrive almost two years after her previous studio album, “Bewitched,” which won the Grammy for best traditional pop album. She’s had plenty of interstitial releases, though, from the deluxe version of that album to several Christmas singles to a 2024 concert movie, “A Night at the Symphony: Live at the Hollywood Bowl.” A vinyl-only limited edition double-album soundtrack to that film was released in April for Record Store Day.
Laufey has not announced major tour plans yet for 2025 or beyond, although she has a few scattered dates with symphonies on the books for this summer. She was most recently seen at Coachella, sitting in with the LA Phil on both weekends of the festival. Gustavo Dudamel invited her to join that set for her biggest song to date, “From the Start,” as well as the first single from the forthcoming album, “Silver Lining.”
English (US) ·