Olivia Dean is fast becoming a genuine household name, winning over fans with her blend of pop, indie, soul and beyond. Since her stellar 2023 debut album ‘Messy’, it’s been a succession of career highlights: a seismic Glastonbury performance in 2024, contributing the swooning ‘It Isn’t Perfect But It Might Be’ to the final Bridget Jones film’s soundtrack, and Mercury Prize and BRIT Award nominations. And there’s more still to come, with Dean set to embark on a mega-headline tour next April, including four sold-out nights at London’s The O2.
Now it’s ‘The Art of Loving’, her second full-length album, that continues to build on her signature sound: Dean’s distinct vocals coupled with earworm melodies, lush arrangements filled with warm pianos, slinky riffs and well-placed brass licks, and the occasional similarity to musical royalty Amy Winehouse. Standout singles like ‘Nice to Each Other’ and ‘Man I Need’ – the former, a playful musing on modern relationships and maintaining independence in them; the latter, a flirty, gospel-laced sugar rush that’s the sonic equivalent of romantic butterflies – showcase Olivia Dean the popstar at her best.
It’s a record that will “hopefully it will make you laugh, dance and cry”, centred around Dean’s “understanding of love”. It’s a theme that carries through both in the lyrics and the wider musical influences that Dean fuses her sonic world with. The breezy bossa nova of ‘So Easy (To Fall in Love)’ captures the excitement of new relationships, while the quiet, cantering dance beats of ‘Something Inbetween’ draw on something more unsteady and complex, when you know you need to trust your gut (“Is it thinking too high of myself, to not wanna be sad”).
Elsewhere, there’s Motown (‘A Couple Minutes’), and glorious moments of funk (‘Baby Steps’), a track which sees Dean sum up strange but empowering post-relationship feelings, with couplets like: “Now there’s no one to text when the plane lands / or to call when it’s taking off”.
There are sleepier moments, though, that fail to inject the magic elsewhere on the tracklist, like the schmaltzy ‘Let Alone The One You Love’, a stickier cut built around exaggerated piano chords, or ‘Loud’, a stripped back moment built around finger-picked guitar and strings. Here, Dean’s charming open-book lyricism and vocals are washed away among the instrumentals, but largely on ‘The Art of Loving’, they’re allowed to shine.
Dean’s second record, and the years that came prior to it, have placed her alongside artists like RAYE or Sam Fender. British artists who’ve ascended to bigger and bigger stages, crafting music that while sonically is in their own lanes, is filled with honest lyricism coming from a distinct voice. As Dean prepares for her own sold-out arena tours – and with her tracks soaring up the UK charts – this record comes to cement her place. With it, marks the next chapter in Dean’s career, one as a popstar risen.
Details
- Record label: Capitol Records / Polydore Records
- Release date: September 26, 2025
The post Olivia Dean – ‘The Art of Loving’ review: musings on love from a star risen appeared first on NME.