Laufey discusses viral fame, partying with Bill Murray and the benefits of boredom

Louis Theroux· Host0:00

[upbeat music] Hello there, and welcome to the podcast we like to call the Louis Theroux Podcast. [upbeat music] For this episode, I'm joined by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and Gen Z megastar Laufey. On my teleprompter it says Laufey, which is how it's spelt, but it's not pronounced like that. She's Icelandic. If you're not at all online, even if you don't know who she is, you've probably heard her songs. "From the Start" is the big one. It's a bossa nova track, but there are many others. Her music blends bossa nova, classical jazz, and pop, combining a timeless sound with modern lyrics about love and heartbreak. We go into the origins of this intriguing cocktail of influences in the conversation. And in case you're wondering what's bossa nova, you'd recognize it if you heard it. "Girl from Ipanema" is the most famous. I'm not gonna sing it, there's rights issues, but it kind of goes, "T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t." Uh, it doesn't go like that. I didn't get it. "T-t-t-t." I can't do it without a melody. [drumming] I can't drum. Did that help? Now you know what bossa nova is. Renowned Brazilian genre, it says, that emerged from Rio in the late '50s, this is more like it, which blends traditional samba rhythms with jazz harmonies. The Girl From Ipanema, we said that, Corcovado, Corcovado.