from the start

The song From the Start by Laufey plays with a contradiction that makes it special: beneath its warm melody and jazz pop rhythm lies an unrequited love story between two friends. The lyrics, written with subtle irony, hide the pain behind seemingly innocent phrases, as if the author had decided to wrap sadness in a package of soft harmonies and arrangements reminiscent of 1950s ballrooms. The result is a piece that sounds like modern nostalgia, where each note seems to be telling something different from what the words say.

Recorded as part of her second album, Bewitched, this song was born during a period when Laufey was exploring modern jazz blended with classical influences, a style she had already been developing since her studies at Berklee College of Music. The production, handled by her alongside Spencer Stewart and featuring the Philharmonia Orchestra, aimed to capture that duality: the intimate and the grand, the old and the contemporary. The single, released before the album in 2023, ended up being one of the standout tracks on Bewitched, a record that not only earned critical acclaim for its balance between technical skill and emotional depth but also took home a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.