Sometimes, when new artists rise to fame with such speed and power, it feels as a reflex that we should shy away from their music. At the moment, it is almost impossible to avoid Olivia Dean online. From her single in the latest Bridget Jones franchise ‘It Isn’t Perfect But It Might Be’, her performance on the Jools Holland’s Hootennany of ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ and her recent collaborations with Burberry and Adidas— she has quickly taken over the internet. However, with the release of Olivia Dean’s hit new album, The Art of Loving, she has proved that the reflex to avoid what may seem alarmingly popular should not apply to all musicians.
In this album, Dean’s nuanced blend of soul and pop succeeds: she has produced an album of love containing almost completely hit-worthy music. Her singles released through the summer have given listeners a taste of what The Art of Loving means to her— exciting, fresh and certainly all about love. They took the US and UK charts by storm with the singles ‘Nice to Each Other’, ‘Lady Lady’ and ‘Man I Need’ becoming immediate have-to-listens.
Her leading lady ‘Nice to Each Other’ opens the album with a bang. The pop drum backbeat, breathy vocals and light lyrics keep the mood upbeat and cheerful. The song embodies modern values as she lets labels alone— she doesn’t want a boyfriend but they ‘could be nice to each other’. We, as listeners, are not quite made privy on what this niceness entails but— in this single— nothing is too deep. After all, she’d ‘probably crash your stupid car’.
More songs have the potential to hit the charts on this album, one being Dean’s ‘So Easy (To Fall in Love)’. The song exudes self love and confidence, reflecting the current cultural turn to prioritizing the self. It slots succinctly into the rest of the album’s instrumentation— brass sax, plucky acoustic guitar and jazzy piano triads. Really, it’s Dean’s soulful lyrics and vocal melodies that steal the show here: ‘it’s so easy, to fall in love with me’. This lightheartedness is not continued throughout the album, though, as later songs explore the more melancholic aspects of love.
Dean’s song ‘Close Up’ appears to be one of the only songs on the album with some poor critical reception. It does, however, have something to offer in its combination of worn-out piano backing with lifting, pop drum and melodies. Dean’s entanglement of pop and soul is visible here as she blends repetitive, rhyming vocals with soul instrumentation— trumpet call and response is used frequently throughout the album to enliven its demanding themes.
Maybe it’s the prominent British accent, or the orchestral string instrumentation, but some of Dean’s songs remind the ear of British pop icon Adele. ‘Loud’ shows a new side to her with more vocal power. And if her album truly is a love letter, then ‘I’ve Seen It’ is her ending signature. The song recognises how Dean learnt everything about love— she’s ‘seen it bloom, then end in tears’. In this ode to Eleanor, Rosie, Louise, Mum and Dad, Dean’s gentle lyricism perseveres.
It would be an offense to suggest that Dean’s The Art of Loving is merely a flirty, fun expansion of her backing for Michael Morris’ romcom. It would also be an offence to suggest that Dean is merely a pop artist when this album offers soul, jazz and an almost gospel vigour for life. The Art of Loving functions almost as a love letter: the relationships between pop, soul, heartbreak and ‘everything unspoken’.