Icelandic-Chinese musician Laufey's "From The Start," released after her graduation from Berklee College of Music, broke the all-time record for the best jazz single debut on Spotify with 1.1 million streams in a single day in May 2023. This song, which captures the ache of unrequited love in a 1940s jazz sound, proved to Generation Z that jazz could be genuinely cool.
From Reykjavík to Berklee: A Girl Who Fell for Jazz
Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland to an Icelandic father and Chinese mother. She studied classical cello from childhood, but during her teenage years fell in love with jazz—and her musical direction shifted entirely. She enrolled at the prestigious Berklee College of Music and graduated in 2021, then began her solo career in earnest. Her collaboration with fellow Berklee alumnus and producer Spencer Stewart played a crucial role in defining the musical identity that would culminate in From The Start.
Laufey's music blends the harmonic language of 1940s jazz with the intuitive melodies of modern pop. The way she grew her audience by sharing her songs directly on TikTok demonstrated that a loyal fanbase could be built without the traditional label system. By the time From The Start was released, she was already an artist with millions of TikTok followers.
"From The Start" — A Song of Unexpressed Love
"From The Start" is a song about the pain of unrequited feelings. Laufey explained it this way: "You know when you're in high school or middle school or something, and you have a friend, and you kind of like them, and you're listening to them describe somebody they like? It's this kind of sinking feeling... I never really dared to fully express exactly how I felt about someone. So for this, I just wrote it, kind of this confession, into a song." The song takes the form of a confession — wishing from the very beginning they could have been more than friends. A swing-inflected melody inspired by 1940s pop and breezy vocals gently cradle the weight of that emotion.
Released on May 10, 2023 via AWAL, the song broke the all-time record for the best jazz single debut on Spotify with 1.1 million streams in its first 24 hours. It became the most streamed jazz song of 2023 and one of the most streamed jazz songs of all time. It was certified platinum by the RIAA and reached number one on the Bubbling Under Hot 100.
"You know when you have a friend, and you kind of like them, and you're listening to them describe somebody they like? I never really dared to fully express how I felt. So I wrote it into a song."— Laufey, Genius interview
The second studio album containing From The Start, "Bewitched," was released on September 8, 2023, debuting at number 23 on the Billboard 200 and number 1 on the Jazz Albums chart — the biggest jazz album debut in Spotify history. And in 2024, Bewitched won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 66th Grammy Awards.
What the New Hope of Jazz Has Shown the World
The message Laufey's success sends to the music industry is clear: jazz isn't dead — it just needed a new language. She translated the sensibility of jazz into the everyday language of Gen Z through TikTok and social media. Unrequited love, the complicated feelings that come with friendship, the small moments of daily life — Laufey's songs borrow jazz's form, but their content is thoroughly of today. "From The Start" was the most perfect moment at that intersection.
