On August 22nd, Laufey released her 3rd studio album, A Matter of Time. This record undoubtedly garnered the most hype out of all of her previous releases, due to Laufey’s fan base growing quickly. The album has been well received, and for good reason—it’s truly high quality.

However, prior to the record’s release, Laufey repeatedly stated she wanted to explore and experiment with her jazz-pop style that she specialized in. While I do believe she did in some ways- I don’t think she went far enough. 

I still believe that the album is well made. A Matter of Time has Laufey’s signature sound- meaning it is an easily enjoyable listening experience with bits of mood swings that keeps listeners engaged. Some of my personal favorites include Snow White, Tough Luck, Forget me Not and Too Little, Too Late.

However, the most significant critique I hold for the album is that I don’t think Laufey fully delivers on her promise of expanding her range. 

“I wanted to experiment with new techniques and new sounds, to see how far I could push while still staying honest and true to myself…I wanted to push myself to the breaking point,” she told Rolling Stone. 

While the sentiment is admirable, unfortunately, some of the songs on the record, such as Carousel and Clockwork, feel very similar to those you might hear on one of her past releases like Bewitched or Typical of Me. Most of the moments where it feels like Laufey truly shakes up her style are short lived and can be concentrated down to a single part in the latter half of a track, for example the second chorus. I’m hesitant to be this critical of such an album, given it was released so recently. As a devoted fan of the artist, I found A Matter of Time to be eloquent and beautiful—an experience I could anticipate unfolding with every song.