Matt’s Music Blog

Laufey (pronounced LOY-VEY ) is kind of an anomaly in the modern pop landscape, and I mean that in the best possible sense.  If you’re on TikTok, you most certainly know her, and if you don’t, allow me to fill you in. She’s an Icelandic-born singer-songwriter who makes music that infuses the old-fashioned jazz of the Great American Songbook with modern styles like indie and  bedroom pop. Her musical output is truly one of a kind, and I’m so glad she’s getting the recognition she deserves in the mainstream, appearing on late-night shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live and being on a world tour as of my writing this.  One of her best-known songs is this lovely cover of the jazz standard “ I Wish You Love .” Like much of her work at that time, it combines bedroom pop music with jazz influences, resulting in something that sounds both modern and retro simultaneously. Laufey's rich, warm contralto calls to mind Judy Garland and other classic female singers from the mid-20th century...

Released in November 2009, "Pencil Full of Lead" by Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini was a song unlike anything else that was on the radio at the time. Here Nutini opted for something different—a warm and woodsy jazz-pop banger that was as retro as it was modern, calling to mind early 20th century ragtime and gypsy jazz with its acoustic instrumentation, while also reflecting some very current, very British (or Scottish!) sensibilities in its lyrics. As a kid, I absolutely loved it for how different it was; as an adult, I still do, and find myself tapping my finger to the fun, jazzy beat whenever I hear it again on the radio, while being able to appreciate the wryly funny and somewhat dirty lyrics as an added bonus.  Yes, “Pencil Full of Lead” means exactly what you think it means. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  For whatever reason, both my local radio stations here in Aberdeen seem to have a thing for this particular song, out of all the songs they could’ve played from that particular...

 Hi, welcome to my blog.  I used to do movie reviews as a hobby but I thought I’d also try my hand at doing song reviews as well.  I accept all requests.