After teasing her new music with singles “Silver Lining,” “Tough Luck,” “Lover Girl” and “Snow White,” Icelandic-Chinese singer-songwriter Laufey (pronounced Lay-Vay) released her 14-track studio album “A Matter of Time” on Aug. 22, 2025 at midnight for everybody in the U.S.A. Her tour of the same title began today on Sept. 15, 2025 in Orlando, Florida and will end in Boston on Oct. 27. Differing from her past albums, her third studio project has a true fairy tale, complex note to it while tying in her Icelandic roots.
The album opens up with “Clockwork,” a classic piece that begins with the sound of a clock chiming, effortlessly setting the magical tone of the album. The song is light and playful, narrating her experience of the nerves that go along with first dates while using her signature sound — a blend of jazz and pop . Using the work of her long-time producer and composer Spencer Stewart along with a new addition of Grammy award winning producer Aaron Dessner — who has collaborated with notable artists including Taylor Swift on “Folklore,” “evermore,” “Midnights,” “The Tortured Poets Department” and for Gracie Abrams‘ “I know it won’t work” — Laufey showcases her powerful, emotional vocals and lyricism throughout the album.
The most notable aspect of “A Matter of Time” is one thing: it’s versatility. The album has to be the most dynamic of all of the artist’s discography, with the writing and sound of the songs ranging from dreamy and wistful to mournful and jarring. This can be seen with the second track “Lover Girl,” a sweet, upbeat song about romantic fixation and yearning, as it transitions to “Snow White,” a heartfelt, acoustic piece that illustrates the singer’s insecurities as a woman while describing her desperation to meet an unattainable, ‘perfect’ self-image. Through these contrasting songs, Laufey didn’t just release an album, she created a story of love and heartbreak, of insecurities and nostalgia while remaining true to her sound.
Along with showcasing a new side to her through building on her original sound, the singer-songwriter references her Icelandic heritage with “Forget-Me-Not.” She does this by sharing her love and feelings about leaving her homeland, asking for the country to not forget about her through the Icelandic language, a heart-wrenching view into the singer’s experience with moving to America.
In a more satirical addition to the album, Laufey criticizes a past moment where a man tried to impress her by quoting poets and composers in “Mr. Eclectic.” Produced and composed by the artist and Spencer Stewart, fellow musician Claire Cottrill, popularly known as Clairo, contributed to the song with backing vocals, exciting many fans that listen to both of the artists. Clairo has yet to collaborate lyrically with Laufey, but the two appeared together on the YouTube show “Hot Ones Versus” in August of this year where they teased the release of “Mr. Eclectic.”
The album closes with “Sabotage,” the most jarring, chaotic of her discography by far. The start of the song is quiet, almost doubtful, as she describes her insecurities within her relationship. Then, in an unexpected twist, the soft piano switches to angry, loud string instrumentals in an effort to catch the audience off guard, mimicking the way the singer ‘sabotages’ her relationships by becoming wrapped in the ideas of self-doubt, and later, self-destruction. With the piece, Laufey finally tells the audience the meaning of the title of the album with the lyrics “It’s just a matter of time ’til you see the dagger / It’s a special of mine to cause disaster”. With this track, the singer-songwriter establishes a new mature side to her music that hadn’t been present before while leaving a lasting impact on her audience, effectively closing out the album and crafting an elaborate story that will be celebrated by listeners, critics for years to come.
Edited by: Victoria Byers, Aarushi Rana and Trisha Panicker
