Laufey in the A Matter of Time Australian Tour. Image credit: Nicole Mago
Like clockwork, Australia fell in love with a girl called Laufey.
Jazz-Pop sensation Laufey has made her grand return to Australia for the much anticipated A Matter of Time concert tour off the back of her Grammy Award-winning third studio Album of the same name.
Having made her Brisbane debut at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in 2024 during the Bewitched: The Goddess Tour, the 27-year-old Chinese Icelandic musician has swiftly moved from the traditional setting of the concert hall, having sold out such illustrious venues as the Sydney Opera House, to the bright lights of the stadium in a 2-hour theatrical spectacle.
Laufey’s A Matter of Time concert tour is a fantastic experience guaranteed to warm the heart and stir the soul. Following the strong fantasy vibes of her most recent studio album, the evening is clearly split into four acts, reminiscent of a play or fairytale book. Screen projections depicted misty mountaintop castles, starry night skies, carousels and more throughout the evening, complemented by a castle-like set design and clock printed on the end of the catwalk.
Pop concerts today invite young people to form community and express themselves in ways unlike ever before. A prime example is Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, where fans began making friendship bracelets to exchange at concerts, inspired by a single lyric from her song “You’re On Your Own, Kid.” This time around, Laufey fans, or “Lauvers”, are embracing their own creative tradition by crafting felt crowns to match the fairytale whimsy of her concerts, while also paying homage to the singer’s iconic birthday look. The crowns reference an Instagram post commemorating the birthday celebrations, in which Laufey and her twin sister, Junia, who also appears on tour, are seen wearing matching felt crowns.
Opening with “Clockwork” and “Lover Girl”, both beginning tracks on the A Matter of Time album, it perfectly set the tone for the remainder of the concert. When Laufey asked, ‘Are you excited to be lover girls tonight?’, the crowd raptured with excitement, ready to clap out the iconic beat layered throughout the song. Whilst known for bringing an orchestra onstage to each concert, this tour hits different with back-up dancers adding to the whimsical ballet aesthetic of the new album, particularly as we reach the fourth and final act with “Cuckoo Ballet – Interlude” which is almost a gentle nod to the Christmas fantasy element of The Nutcracker ballet. Here Laufey treated audiences to a cello solo, as well as playing guitar and piano throughout the show.
The evening was sprinkled with sweet anecdotes by the delightful singer, including a tale of meeting a ‘Sugar Flyer’ earlier in the day, to which she soon discovered from the crowd’s correction was in fact a ‘Sugar Glider’. The audience was even treated to an impromptu song written just before the concert to commemorate her meeting with the Sugar Glider and other Australian animals she encountered that day.
From relatable songs about friendship breakups (“Castle in Hollywood”), body image struggles (“Snow White”) and self-doubt (“Letter To My 13 Year Old Self”), to her captivating blend of classical, jazz and pop influences, Laufey is more than a gifted songwriter and musician. She is a trailblazer, introducing a new generation to genres that have become less prominent in today’s music landscape. Her passion for the work she does is evident not only in her performance but encouragement of fans to continue pursuing their creative endeavours, especially in the unstable climate the arts industry is facing with the rise of artificial intelligence, making the perfect leeway into “Letter To My 13 Year Old Self” to close the concert, an important marker for things the singer wishes she could have told herself in her formative years when dreams felt so distant to where she is now.
It was also wonderful to see Laufey supporting rising talent with support act Leonie Biney. The 21-year-old British singer-songwriter shared the soothing tones of her indie-pop songwriting, later taking to Instagram with a clip of her performance of “Beach Song” which swept the room with phone torches aglow, thanking Brisbane audiences for their support.
If there’s anything we’ve learnt from Laufey and this tour, it’s that hard work and dedication truly do pay off and to ‘keep on going with your silly dream’, who knows where it will take you!
Laufey makes her final stop of the A Matter of Time Australian Tour in Sydney from the 7 to 8 August before heading down to Auckland, New Zealand for a one night only concert.
