Olivia Dean - The Art of Loving
British pop-soul star Olivia Dean’s sophomore album blooms as a meditation on personal growth, self-worth, and the many faces of love.
It hardly matters how you first discovered Olivia Dean — whether through her viral online tracks, opening for rock heavyweight Sam Fender on tour, or simply following her career from its earliest steps. Her work has always radiated warmth and tenderness, with lyrics that invite reflection and introspection, while her voice — rich, velvety, and comforting as fine chocolate — envelops the listener in a gentle embrace. Her second studio album, The Art of Loving, released via Capitol and Polydor, elevates her craft to a near-absolute, delivering a twelve-track experience that lingers long after the final note.
Love may not be a new theme in music, yet Dean manages to mine it for deeply personal resonance: love is nonlinear, unpredictable, and utterly human. On “Nice to Each Other”, she captures the tension of intimacy — the yearning for connection tempered by the fear of losing oneself. Past wounds, mental struggles, and mistrust color the narrative, making it painfully relatable. It’s no wonder this track was chosen as the lead single: it oscillates effortlessly between nostalgia and modernity, Dean’s command of the instrumental playful yet precise, inviting listeners to move along with her. Resistance feels nearly impossible.
Self-love emerges as an equally vital theme. “Lady Lady” serves as an ode to the ever-shifting cosmos, in which we grow alongside Dean. Change can be unsettling, yet there’s comfort in the idea that transformation often leads to better things — whether it’s a new haircut or a change of scenery, the universe has its own design. Drawing on motifs from her debut album Messy, “Lady Lady” feels airy and carefree, a breezy affirmation amid the weightier emotional terrain.
The Art of Loving is a shapeshifter: it can make you dance, weep, or laugh in a single listen. Its core value, however, lies in its nuanced understanding of love in all its forms. “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” captures the thrill of early attraction, a stage of vulnerability and possibility. Dean hints at the lengths she’s willing to go while granting her counterpart the freedom to stay for a night — or a lifetime. She never obscures her feelings, and this unguarded honesty continues into “Something Inbetween”, where the emotional landscape grows more complex, requiring intuition to navigate. Smooth and danceable, the track pairs her smoky vocals with romantic imagery that sparks imaginings in the listener’s mind.
Whimsical, storybook motifs also thread through the album, fitting for a collection so devoted to love. A brief forty-second intro nods to Beauty and the Beast through the figure of Belle, while “Close Up” references Alice in Wonderland, with the line “chasing rabbits don’t usually end with happy ever after” evoking Alice’s plunge into the unknown. Yet Dean diverges from fairy tale convention: love may enchant and transform, but it rarely conforms to a neatly packaged ending.
The album’s pinnacle arrives with the triumphant “Man I Need”, a masterful track anchored by a bold keyboard riff and an anthemic chorus. Here, Dean captures optimism in romance, acknowledging heartbreak yet refusing to relinquish hope. Her playful vocals glide effortlessly over a composition that feels tailor-made for late-night kitchen dances with a glass of wine in hand — intimate, joyous, and unapologetically real.
Ultimately, The Art of Loving teaches that even through pain, love imparts lessons. It demands growth, offers insight, and transforms the ordinary encounters into moments of significance. Heartbreak may momentarily sour one’s view of love, but it is often these very experiences that illuminate its enduring value. Sometimes, all a person needs is another person — and Olivia Dean understands this truth better than most.
8.0/10
