Songs of old are long past, but their spirits are still very alive, even in our youngest generations – Laufey brings the sound of traditional vocal jazz to the modern soundscape in one of the greatest studies of the genre I’ve heard in my lifetime.

Traditional pop is much more than just instrumentation, though Laufey checks all the boxes with ‘Valentine’; the song opens with a mid-heavy guitar gliding through gentle chords with extended harmony. Following the first verse, a subtle brushed drum groove punches walking double-bass lines and distant, muffled piano passages. Traditional pop is about style, it’s about a feeling, which Laufey captures masterfully. The chords move in devastating diminished passages and descending minor thirds, the melody over it moving in chromatic ascents and descents. The way the harmonies serve as a barbershop-quartet style counter-melody that happens to perfectly work with the main melody from time to time, is something that is both incredibly hard to pull off organically and chill-inducing. The way Laufey emulates the intonation and delivery practiced in the 50s is jaw-dropping. The intimacy of her voice compared to the instrumentation that sits further back perfectly illustrates the feeling of dining out with a jazz group playing in the far corner. The song gently waltzes to conclusion, with the choir in the back perfectly closing the song with a chromatic descent that brings the tune to a beautiful, rightful end.

‘Valentine’ requires multiple listens, especially for those attracted to this genre of music. I was astonished when I first stumbled upon it, ‘Valentine’ being my first experience from Laufey. I immediately added her discography to my library, excited to listen to what else there is to discover. Still, I couldn’t let go of ‘Valentine’, letting loop seemingly endlessly. The authenticity of every element of the song comparatively to the legends that paved music today back in the 1950s is beautiful. ‘Valentine’ is an opus of not just an artist, but a genre.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.