Bewitched | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 8 September 2023 | |||
Genre | Jazz pop [1] | |||
Length | 48:19 (original version) 61:17 (The Goddess Edition) | |||
Label | AWAL | |||
Producer |
| |||
Laufey chronology | ||||
| ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
Singles from Bewitched | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Bewitched:the Goddess Edition | ||||
|
Bewitched is the second studio album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey,released on 8 September 2023 through AWAL. Described by Laufey as "a love album,whether it be a love towards a friend or a lover or life",Bewitched deals with a variety of romantic themes in its songs.
Musically,Bewitched consists of jazz pop ballads,predominantly written by Laufey and collaborator Spencer Stewart,and produced by the duo along with Philharmonia Orchestra and Dan Wilson. The album was met with acclaim from music critics,who complimented the songs for their modern spin on jazz and nostalgic quality at the same time;Laufey's technical skills were also a subject of praise in the reviews. It won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. [2]
Four singles preceded the album:"From the Start","Promise", [3] "Bewitched" and "California and Me", [4] the first of which marked Laufey's first song to chart on record charts. Bewitched peaked at number two on the Icelandic albums chart and was Laufey's first album to chart in Australia,Canada,New Zealand,Scotland,the United Kingdom,and the United States. Additionally,the album topped the Australian Jazz &Blues Albums chart. To support the album,Laufey will embark on a European concert tour in 2024. [4]
On 6 March 2024,Laufey announced the reissue of the album Bewitched:The Goddess Edition,which was preceded by the single "Goddess". [5]
With the announcement,Laufey described Bewitched as "a love album,whether it be a love towards a friend or a lover or life". She reflected on her first album's theme of becoming an adult and contrasted it with having since "experienced a little bit more of that,and [...] writing about the magic in the love of being young". [6]
Shortly prior to releasing the album,Laufey made the sheet music available to fans. [7]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 83/100 [8] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
DIY | [9] |
The Line of Best Fit | 8/10 [1] |
NME | [10] |
Pitchfork | 7.0/10 [11] |
Uncut | 8/10 [12] |
Bewitched received a score of 83 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on six critics' reviews,indicating "universal acclaim". [8] Uncut felt that "if these [tracks] feel like throwbacks,they're no more so than Norah Jones' best work,and there's nonetheless something timeless about the breezy 'While You Were Sleeping' and,with its chugging guitars,'Lovesick'". [12] In a five-star review,Hannah Mylrea of NME described Bewitched as "confident and musically ambitious,melding jazz,pop and modern classical composition",throughout which "Laufey's impressive technical ability shines". [10]
James Hickey of DIY wrote that Laufey's "crystalline voice and effortless charisma make this album into a gorgeous display of a unique talent",which he also described as "stuffed full of immaculate jazz ballads,shot through with luscious strings and swooning stories of hopeless love". [9] The Line of Best Fit 's Matthew Kim opined that Laufey "improves on her already effective formula in just about every department",and while she does not "reinvent the wheel when it comes to the antique jazz-pop sound that she's already mastered","she certainly diversifies her palette". [1] Alex Ramos of Pitchfork found it to be "bolder and more intentional" than Everything I Know About Love as "here,Laufey doesn't simply let jazz inform the work;she uses it as a vehicle to enact fantasies and ambitions,lending her contemporary musings a misty,out-of-time quality". [11]
Publication | Accolade | Rank | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Billboard | Best Albums of 2023 | 46 | |
NME | The Best Albums of 2023 | 33 | |
Uproxx | The Best Albums of 2023 | — | |
Variety | The Best Albums of 2023 | 9 | |
Vogue | The Best Albums of 2023 | — |
Bewitched debuted at number 23 on the US Billboard 200 and number 1 on the Jazz Albums charts with 23,000 album-equivalent units. [18]
All tracks are written and produced by Laufey and Spencer Stewart,except where noted.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Dreamer" | 3:30 | ||
2. | "Second Best" | 3:24 | ||
3. | "Haunted" | 3:20 | ||
4. | "Must Be Love" |
| 3:04 | |
5. | "While You Were Sleeping" | 2:57 | ||
6. | "Lovesick" | 3:45 | ||
7. | "California and Me" (featuring Philharmonia Orchestra) | Laufey |
| 3:36 |
8. | "Nocturne" (Interlude) | Laufey | Laufey | 2:24 |
9. | "Promise" |
|
| 3:54 |
10. | "From the Start" | 2:49 | ||
11. | "Misty" | 3:29 | ||
12. | "Serendipity" | 3:39 | ||
13. | "Letter to My 13 Year Old Self" | Laufey | 4:22 | |
14. | "Bewitched" |
| 4:06 | |
Total length: | 48:19 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
15. | "Bored" | 3:33 | |
16. | "Trouble" |
| 2:51 |
17. | "It Could Happen to You" |
| 2:07 |
18. | "Goddess" | Laufey | 4:27 |
Total length: | 61:17 |
Chart (2023–2024) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [19] | 6 |
Australian Jazz & Blues Albums (ARIA) [20] | 1 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [21] | 15 |
Canadian Albums ( Billboard ) [22] | 38 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [23] | 15 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [24] | 45 |
Icelandic Albums (Plötutíðindi) [25] | 1 |
Irish Albums (IRMA) [26] | 67 |
Irish Independent Albums (IRMA) [27] | 3 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [28] | 13 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [29] | 10 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [30] | 99 |
UK Albums (OCC) [31] | 13 |
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [32] | 2 |
US Billboard 200 [33] | 18 |
US Independent Albums ( Billboard ) [34] | 1 |
US Jazz Albums ( Billboard ) [35] | 1 |
Debut is the international debut studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk, released in July 1993 by One Little Indian and Elektra Entertainment. It was produced by Björk and Nellee Hooper. It was Björk's first recording following the dissolution of her previous band, the Sugarcubes. The album departed from the rock style of her previous work and drew from an eclectic variety of styles, including electronic pop, house music, jazz and trip hop.
Born to Die is the debut major-label and second studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on January 27, 2012, through Interscope Records and Polydor Records. A reissue of the album, subtitled The Paradise Edition, was released on November 9, 2012. The new material from the reissue was also made available on a separate EP titled Paradise.
Goddess is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Banks, released on September 5, 2014, by Harvest Records. The album includes songs from her previous extended plays Fall Over and London. The album spawned four singles: "Warm Water", "Brain", "Drowning", and "Beggin for Thread". A companion remix album, Goddess Remixes, was released digitally on March 23, 2015.
AIM is the fifth studio album by British rapper and singer M.I.A. It was released on 9 September 2016 by Interscope and Polydor Records. Prior to its release, M.I.A. claimed that it would be her final album. She worked on the composition and production of the album with a range of collaborators, including Blaqstarr, Diplo, and Skrillex. The album was recorded in various countries, including Jamaica and India, and includes vocal contributions from Dexta Daps and Zayn. As with M.I.A.'s earlier releases, the album mixes Eastern and Western musical influences. Lyrically, several tracks on the album contain themes of borders and refugees.
Noonday Dream is the third album by British singer-songwriter Ben Howard, released on 1 June 2018.
Igor is the fifth studio album by the American rapper and record producer Tyler, the Creator. It was released on May 17, 2019, through Columbia Records. Produced solely by Tyler himself, the album features guest appearances from Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Solange, Kanye West, and Jerrod Carmichael. Following the release of Flower Boy (2017), the album was primarily recorded in California, with recording sessions also being held in Lake Como, Italy, and Atlanta between 2017 and 2019.
Beatrice "Bea" Kristi Ilejay Laus, known professionally as Beabadoobee, is a Filipino-English singer and songwriter. From 2018 to 2021, she released five extended plays under the independent label Dirty Hit: Lice (2018), Patched Up (2018), Loveworm (2019), Space Cadet (2019) and Our Extended Play (2021). Her debut studio album, Fake It Flowers, was released in October 2020 and received critical acclaim. Her second studio album, Beatopia, was released on July 15, 2022.
Pony is the third studio album and major-label debut by the English musician Rex Orange County. It was released on 25 October 2019, through RCA Records. The album was entirely recorded at Strongroom Studios in East London, with an orchestral recording at Air Studios, and solely written by Rex Orange County, who produced all the songs with Ben Baptie.
The Ascension is the eighth studio album by American musician Sufjan Stevens. It was released through Asthmatic Kitty on September 25, 2020. The record was influenced by a range of artists, particularly Ariana Grande and her 2018 song "Thank U, Next".
Dawn FM is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released on January 7, 2022, through XO and Republic Records. The album features narration by Jim Carrey, guest vocals from Tyler, the Creator and Lil Wayne, and spoken word appearances from Quincy Jones and Josh Safdie. As the album's executive producers, the Weeknd, Max Martin and Oneohtrix Point Never recruited a variety of other producers such as Oscar Holter, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia.
Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir, known mononymously as Laufey, is an Icelandic singer-songwriter and record producer. She achieved prominence in the early 2020s for her success as a jazz-inspired pop artist, with critics stating that her jazz-inflected songs have received considerable success for a genre that has largely declined commercially.
Fossora is the tenth studio album by Icelandic singer-musician Björk. It was released on 30 September 2022 through One Little Independent Records. The album was recorded mainly during the COVID-19 pandemic and centers around the theme of isolation, loss, and grief, mainly of the death of her mother, Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, in 2018. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 11 and the US Billboard 200 at number 100. It received a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, becoming Björk's ninth consecutive nomination in the category.
Hold the Girl is the second studio album by Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama. It was released on 16 September 2022 by Dirty Hit. The album was preceded by the singles, "This Hell", "Catch Me in the Air", "Hold the Girl", "Phantom" and "Hurricanes". "Frankenstein" was also released, as the final single from the album. The album, recorded between 2020 and 2021, features production from collaborators including Paul Epworth, Clarence Clarity, Stuart Price, and Marcus Andersson. Clarity also produced much of Sawayama's debut album Sawayama (2020).
Midnights is the tenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 21, 2022, by Republic Records. Swift conceived it as a concept album about nocturnal ruminations inspired by her sleepless nights. The autobiographical songwriting explores broad emotions such as regrets, self-criticism, fantasies, heartbreak, and infatuation, using confessional yet cryptic lyrics that allude to her personal life and public image.
Cracker Island is the eighth studio album by the British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 24 February 2023 via Parlophone and Warner Records. It features collaborations with Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Bootie Brown and Beck. A deluxe edition was released with additional tracks featuring De La Soul, MC Bin Laden, Del the Funky Homosapien and Dawn Penn.
This Is Why is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Paramore, released on February 10, 2023 through Atlantic Records, their final studio album for the label. It is their first album since 2017, following After Laughter, and is the band's second album to have that lineup. The album was supported by four singles: "This Is Why", "The News", "C'est Comme Ça", and "Running Out of Time".
Everything I Know About Love is the debut studio album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey, released on 26 August 2022 through AWAL. The deluxe version of the album was released on 14 October 2022.
The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Chappell Roan, released on September 22, 2023, through Amusement Records, an imprint of Island Records owned by the album's producer, Dan Nigro. Roan wrote the album alongside Nigro beginning in 2020. The album received positive reviews from critics, who acclaimed its pop sound.
Typical of Me is the debut extended play by Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey, released on 30 April 2021. The EP was self-published by Laufey and later released on 12-inch vinyl through AWAL.
The Bewitched Tour is the ongoing second concert tour by Icelandic musician Laufey.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)