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\n\tFor her third LP, A Matter of Time<\/em>, Laufey<\/a> had a clear image in mind. \u201cThe whole album to me is just that moment when Cinderella finds out it\u2019s struck midnight and she\u2019s running,\u201d says the Icelandic pop star, 26. \u201cThe heartbeat that she has, that\u2019s the album.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s the perfect analogy for a project filled with heartbreak, fictional weddings, and fairytale motifs. But Laufey is adamant about flipping the storybook idea on its head, especially when it comes to herself as an artist. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy to peg me as this very soft-spoken, sweet jazz girl who wears ribbons in her hair and prances down the street. But I\u2019m so much more complex than that,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tWhen Laufey came onto the music scene in 2021 with her debut EP, she had yet to graduate from the Berklee College of Music, and was still very much on the journey of shaping who she wanted to become. Her first two albums, Everything I Know About Love<\/em> and the Grammy-winning Bewitched<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> introduced fans to Laufey\u2019s penchant for jazz trills and romance. With A Matter of Time<\/em> (out Aug. 22), Laufey wants to show the world how she\u2019s matured since her early releases \u2014 and what else she has to offer.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI wanted to experiment with new techniques and new sounds, to see how far I could push while still staying honest and true to myself,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted to push myself to the breaking point.\u201d In order to pull her sound in new directions, Laufey tapped a new producer for select tracks: Aaron Dessner<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe was the only person I worked with that I was like, \u2018This is a really honest opening of my story and my sound,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s because he\u2019s also an identical twin.\u201d (Dessner, who has worked closely with Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, and others, is in the long-running indie rock band the National<\/a> with his twin brother, Bryce. Laufey\u2019s twin, Junia Lin Jonsdottir, is her creative director.) \u201cI was really excited to see how our sounds would work together, and he brought a level of shine and speed to my music that I was really craving,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt expanded my range in a really fun way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n