Icelandic jazz-pop sensation Laufey may be known for her swoonsome love songs, but a recent music video shoot revealed a different side. In the video for "Mad Woman," she smacks actor Hudson Williams across the face with a red snapper—a prop fish that prompted multiple takes and improvised insults.
"Oh my God, it was amazing. It was cathartic," Laufey recalls. "I had a lot of unreleased energy that I released on poor Hudson."
The shoot, set in 1960s Los Angeles, featured Olympic skater Alyssa Liu and Katseye singer Megan Skiendiel. The storyline revolves around a toxic relationship, and the fish scene let Laufey tap into primal anger. "I'm not a very angry person, but it felt good to scream and shout," she says. "I dug into my deepest memories of when I've been the most wronged by men."
Since 2022, Laufey has charmed audiences with her blend of classic jazz vocals, lush orchestrations, and witty lyrics—a style she developed at Berklee College of Music. Her latest album, A Matter of Time, explores the ups and downs of a relationship, with a ticking clock motif and forays into soul, Brazilian rhythms, and discordant noise.
"The whole album was a challenge to push beyond my artistic walls," she explains. For the first time, she allowed imperfect notes and vocal cracks to convey vulnerability, inspired by her first experience of falling in love. "It felt like pure chaos, because I certainly had not figured anything out," she admits.
The deluxe edition of the album includes "Mad Woman" and other introspective tracks that serve as a post-mortem on her love life. Laufey continues to defy genre labels, saying, "I feel so lucky to be a musician nowadays, because genre has never meant less."
Her success has earned her a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena, and a Fortnite collaboration.