Staff Writer Album Review – “A Matter of Time”

When it comes to music taste, I really do not have a preferred genre. I listen to pop, country, hip hop, R&B and jazz, which is a lot of music to listen to, but it is so rewarding.  

I am not limited to just one genre of music, but I experience a wide variety of talented artists. One of the artists is Icelandic star Laufey. 

I first discovered the jazz-pop star in 2023 with her album “Bewitched.” Since then, I have listened to most of her discography and been patiently waiting for her next album. 

Finally, this year she announced the release of her next album, “A Matter of Time.”

Naturally, I was excited, especially since she released four singles from the album before the release date. 

The first single released was “Silver Lining.” Throughout the album, Laufey expresses a certain pessimistic view about love, but in this song, she seems to let go of those feelings. 

She sings about how they fell in love on a whim, but she is fine with this. She truly loves this person, and this person has become her “silver lining” in love. 

She does not care about the consequences of their relationship. Laufey sings, “When you go to hell, I’ll go there with you too, and when we’re punished for being so cruel, the silver lining is that I’ll be there with you.” 

Whatever the result of their relationship is, she will stand by them even if it is hard because, at the end of the day, they will have each other. 

The next released single from the album was “Tough Luck.” This song is a completely different vibe from “Silver Lining.” 

While “Silver Lining” was about finally letting her guard down and falling in love, “Tough Luck” falls on the other end of the spectrum as she is letting go of a past relationship. 

In the song, she expresses finally moving on from a toxic relationship. She sings how glad she is to see them leave her life and how she will be better off without them. 

She does not want to wait for them to lie and cheat on her like they did in their past relationship. Laufey then lists off all the mental abuse she had endured from her partner. 

In the bridge, she sings, “I’m not quite as smart as I seem, that I’m a loudmouth nobody. My accent and music are dumb.” Revealing what has been said to her by this partner, she flips the tables back on them. 

It is tough luck because they will not get to have her love anymore. While “Silver Lining” had the hopeful energy to it about embracing love, “Tough Luck” has this assertive vibe that she will not take this abuse anymore. 

With the next single, “Lover Girl,” Laufey is back to hoping for love. In this song, it is back to the beginning of falling in love with someone. 

She has a crush on this person, and they have taken over her life. In the song, she sings about how they have been throwing parties in her mind and how she waits by the phone like a high schooler. 

She is cursed to be this lover girl, who she never thought she would be. She is embarrassed about how hard and fast she has fallen for him but cannot help feeling the emotions she feels. 

It is a curse because she must learn how to cope with being without him while being this deeply in love. This song’s playful energy captures the feelings someone has at the beginning of a new relationship. 

While no one believes they will become that “lover girl,” when they find the right person, they, too, will fall head over heels in love. 

The final single released before the album’s debut was “Snow White.” This song is an emotional journey as it breaks from romantic love to self-love or the lack thereof. 

When she looks in the mirror, she sees all her flaws. When people tell her this is not true, but the lies of her mirror are stronger, and her brain believes the mirror. 

The lyrics, “Sometimes I see her, she looks like Snow White. She’s everything I am but my wrongs are turned to rights,” express that feeling when your brain “fixes” everything that you find wrong about yourself. 

She sees herself as this smaller, more beautiful woman who has achieved all her dreams when she sees her Snow White. But when she sees herself, she sees how she has failed herself.  

Laufey sings, “The world wants beauty, skinny always wins, and I don’t have enough of it, I’ll never have enough of it.” She is singing about the impossible beauty standards of the world, especially for women, and how she will never achieve them.  

She says, “A woman’s best currency is her body, not her brain.” This is the world’s awful message to over half its population, but it is the reality of the situation. 

This song's somber mood makes the listener carefully listen to each word she is saying to truly grasp the message. While the main message is about the unfair societal standards for women, it is also about how you need to love yourself. 

In an album filled with messages about falling in and out of love, it is important to love yourself, even through your own self-perceived flaws. 

In total, there are 14 songs on this album, with each listen being an emotional rollercoaster.

Personally, it invoked memories and feelings I have experienced towards others and myself. 

Each song is unique, especially the “Cuckoo Ballet – Interlude,” which is an orchestra playing for nearly four minutes. The entire album focuses on the emotions one feels through every single moment of a relationship. 

This is one of the best new albums of this year and is a must listen. The 45 minutes fly by while listening. 

This is not a dance or party album, but an album to make the listener feel something. Reliving both joyful and painful memories, it is a journey, but one we must take.