“The Sound of Music” = Best Musical, Norah Jones = God and Addison Rae = Obsession. We look in Laufey’s record cabinet.
During the pandemic, the classically trained singer and composer began to upload tikloks with cover versions and her own songs and went viral – especially under the gene Z. For us, the temporarily most streaming jazz artist Laufey opens her record cabinet.
Recommendations of the editorial team
Astrud Gilberto, Walter Wanderley – A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness (1967)
I listen to a lot of music from the sixties. Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian Bossa-Nova singer and one of my loved ones ever. She has randomly slipped into the profession and therefore sings in a very freely way. Your music sounds very carefree and the arrangements have something timeless.
You let Bossa-Nova elements flow into your music yourself.
I came across the genre and was completely taken from the rhythm and the sound. Many say that Bossa Nova always sounds the same, but for me it is amazing how much you can do as part of the genre. I was in Brazil for the first time last year and nervous because I learned so much about Brazilian music and culture, but everyone was so warm.
Ella Fitzgerald – Ella at the Hollywood Bowl 1958 (2022)
I had this record on my chest of drawers, literally to manifest that I can also appear on the Hollywood Bowl stage. And then I was invited to play with the same orchestra as Ella Fitzgerald – almost seventy years after her, last year in September! It is one of these magical places that bring together so many styles and genres. As a cellist, I was immediately taken by Ella Fitzgerald’s voice. How she scades and improvises as if she were a trumpeter. She really shaped this movement.
Addison Rae – Addison (2025)
I am so obsessed with it – I really think Addison will be my most streamed artist this year. My friends Luka (Kloser), Elvira (Anderfjärd) and Addison worked together on the album. Only women and you can hear it – it’s the perfect album for summer. I hope Luka and Elvira keep going, because we need more producers.
Addison and you both started your career on Tikkok.
One hundred percent. I love to watch Addison’s interviews. I don’t know why people think they are unauthentic. She talked about the fact that taste is a privilege and that sometimes you have to climb the cringe mountain. Addison is a self-made girl-just did your thing. There are so many artists: inside that hate social media or particularly Tikok. I can’t allow myself that, otherwise I would not have a job. I had no connections to the music industry, no rich parents. Tikok was what I needed and I made such embarrassing videos there. Sometimes still, but it’s part of the job. When I started, I also had to make some videos, just to pay my rent. While other artists: inside who didn’t need this could remain cool and mysterious. Addison is proof that in the end it doesn’t matter. You can become a serious artist either way.
Sara Bareilles – The Blessed Unrest (2013)
What an album. In fact, I just met her in New York. Sara Bareilles wrote one of my favorite musicals-“The Waitress”-that made me a musical person. There is a feeling of escapism in it and there is a song, “Chasing the Sun”, on which she sings from a cemetery in Queens. Somehow all of this really took me.
Rodgers & Hammerstein, Julie Andrews – The Sound of Music (1965)
One of the best films that have ever been made. “The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music” (sigh). The music is really beautiful. A very classic musical. Do you know the song “Edelweiss”? One of my favorite songs ever. The music has accompanied me as a child and still inspires me today. The orchestra arrangements are so timeless and perfectly classic-without being too classic.
Norah Jones – Come Away with me (2002)
I am the largest Norah-Jones fan. She was one of the few people I could see and say that I want to do what she is doing. Even if your music is different from mine – she has conceptually driven her very own line and it still made waves. Her roots lie in jazz like mine, there are also jazz standards on the album. In the meantime I had the chance to work with her. We are also often booked for the same jazz festivals. And she is so nice – every time I meet her, I tell her all my life problems. She is my god. It’s like I would like to see what she would have done differently.
You also picked up Christmas songs together.
I have a little 7-inch vinyl of it and every time I look at it, I think that it can’t be true. We played at a jazz festival in Ghent in Belgium. Then she invited me to her podcast and so it happened that we then recorded a Christmas song in a take. Ultimately, there were two.
Chet Baker – Chet Baker Sings (1956)
Actually, I always choose the second, so Chet Baker Sings Vol. Two. But this is the ultra classic. “I love my buddy” is definitely underrated. It’s about missing a friend.
On your current album, “Castle in Hollywood” is also about the end of the relationship. Otherwise I don’t know any songs about breakups in friendships.
At the same time, I don’t know any person who has not yet got through. Whenever I am with friend: Inside about the Themarede, everyone can find themselves with their experiences. Your heart breaks. It is a separation from a person who was like a sister for you. That will always feel very painful.