How I Get

Album: A Matter of Time (2026)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "How I Get" is a dramatic orchestral-pop ballad where Laufey examines what happens when a perfectly sensible young woman misplaces her common sense in the general vicinity of one specific human.
  • The premise is that in every other department of life, Laufey is disciplined. Grounded. She doesn't smoke, doesn't chase regrets, doesn't ricochet between emotional extremes. But introduce him into the equation, and suddenly she's starring in her own psychological opera. "That's just how I get," Laufey sighs, which is both confession and shrug.
  • Laufey said the song is about "the contrast between being disciplined, grounded and in control in every area of my life, except when it comes to one person," exploring that "unsettling shift" where she finds herself chasing a rush and justifying behavior she swore she'd never fall into.
  • Laufey's song "From The Start" chronicles the agony of unrequited love with bossa nova poise, and "Valentine" flutters with hopeful devotion. "How I Get," by contrast, leans into addiction language and self-interrogation, treating the relationship like a habit Laufey knows is bad for her, and keeps indulging anyway.
  • During the European leg of her A Matter of Time Tour, Laufey performed "How I Get" live for the first time in Zürich on February 18, 2025, introducing it as being about a "toxic relationship." That choice of adjective is telling. Laufey noted to the Telegraph how she writes from her own life, and that dating her carries the occupational hazard of lyrical immortality. While "How I Get" isn't documented as a courtroom transcript of any one romance, it bears the unmistakable fingerprints of lived emotion.
  • Co-written and co-produced with her close collaborator Spencer Stewart, the song builds from intimate confession to orchestral swell. Laufey handles lead vocals and cello, while Stewart fills in the rest of the canvas with guitar, piano, bass, drums and percussion. The strings surge and wobble in places, creating a slightly vertiginous feeling that mirrors the lyric's loss of control.
  • "How I Get" is one of four new tracks added to A Matter of Time: The Final Hour, the deluxe expansion of Laufey's third album. Within that universe, the song pushes the narrative into darker territory. While the original record often treated love as wistful, vintage and wrapped in sepia tones, this addendum admits that love can also feel destabilizing.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Todd Rundgren

Todd RundgrenSongwriter Interviews

Todd Rundgren explains why he avoids "Hello It's Me," and what it was like producing Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album.

Tony Banks of Genesis

Tony Banks of GenesisSongwriter Interviews

Genesis' key-man re-examines his solo career and the early days of music video.

Sam Hollander

Sam HollanderSongwriter Interviews

The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.