‘The Art Of Loving’ Olivia Dean: NEO-SOUL Pop For The Self-Empowered

Olivia Dean, The Art Of Loving: Image credit - Jack Davison, Capitol Records

‘Why does everyone love Olivia Dean?’

Singer-songwriter Olivia Dean describes love as ‘a practice… a craft’, and she’s received a lot of it this year – from profile-raising support slots with Sabrina Carpenter and Sam Fender, to a string of top-charting singles.

At a time when many seem fixed on dividing each other into smaller and smaller boxes, Dean’s brand new album, ‘The Art Of Loving’, is a timely reminder to practice compassion. A tender portrayal of self-reflection and love in all its forms, it’s a soft and welcome contrast to the growing rhetoric of ‘us-and-them’.

We’re here to explore ‘The Art Of Loving’, and why this sophomore album is just the beginning for Olivia Dean.

Olivia Dean, ‘The Art Of Loving’ album artwork. Image credit: Capitol Records

“At a time when many seem fixed on dividing each other into smaller and smaller boxes, Dean’s brand new album, ‘The Art Of Loving’, is a timely reminder to practice compassion. ”

The Art Of Loving: An Album Made For Autumn

‘The Art of Loving’ is soft jumpers and hands cradled round hot mugs. It’s tactile and intimate, introspective but inviting, and it’s perfect for Autumn.

Dean’s voice is soothing; lemon and honey tea. Tender and honest, her delivery often tiptoes over acoustic guitars, old piano, and melancholic brass like a lover’s first whispers. Occasionally, she finds her voice louder and stronger, unsurprisingly in her most empowered lyrics: ‘I’m not his, I’m not hers, I’m not yours.’

‘Close Up’ carries the nostalgic yearning of Duffy’s ‘Warwick Avenue’ and Ronson-era Winehouse, a soft vulnerability that Dean returns to in ‘Let Alone The One You Love’ and ‘Something Inbetween’. ‘Baby Steps’ is a hug and a healing balm for all those who’ll relate to its lyrics: ‘Now there’s no one to text when the plane lands or to call when it’s taking off… ‘I’ll be my own pair of safe hands’ – accepting what is lost without diminishing it to the category of ‘failure’.

‘A Couple Of Minutes’ brings an old-school charm akin to crackling fireside chatter. On headphones, it’s so intimate you can almost imagine Dean sitting round the embers singing it next to you. The album closes with ‘Seen It’, a softly sung lullaby destined for wedding slow-dances that ends (as the album starts) with tweeting birds, and peace.

Some songs are stronger than others. The trend of interlude-style intros doesn’t do much for Dean, and ‘The Art of Loving’ would be no worse, perhaps even better, if its 40-second titular track were not present, and instead launched straight into slow groove ‘Nice To Each Other’. The body of the album features more heartbreak and unresolved conflict than its singles may have you anticipating. And yet, Dean remains the central character in her unfolding love story, most charmingly in ‘So Easy (To Fall In Love)’. ‘The Art of Loving’ serves as a gentle release of tension, beautiful and bittersweet as falling leaves.

Dialing It Back: Dean’s Rise To Incoming Iconography

Diehard ‘Deanos’ will tell you that the 26 year-old’s discography is solid from the start, and it undeniably is, with earlier tracks proving that her 2025 boom has not materialised from thin air. ‘Dive’ back to 2019, and ‘Ok, Love You Bye’, Dean’s ‘break out song’, already sounds unmistakably Olivia; piano-driven, self-aware and optimistic, with signature percussion and brass elements.

Olivia Dean has never claimed to be the victim, but she has never asked to be saved either. In 2021, she stepped fully into the narrative of being whole as one with ‘Be My Own Boyfriend’; a song that undeniably has the makings of later singles in its shadows. What bleeds through Dean’s music and resonates with so many is that she’s her own benchmark.

Fast forward to 2023, and Dean’s self-confidence shines brighter in debut album, ‘Messy’. But the progression is clear. In 2025, we arrive at ‘Man I Need’. It is the sharpening of a craft, to a fine ink precision, borrowing from the sensitivity of ‘Dive’ and the feel-good independence of ‘Ladies Room’. That’s why you can’t get it out of your head – it’s a song at the top of Dean’s pyramid; a Grade A case study of ‘practice makes perfect’.

Live Performance: Olivia Dean’s Magnetic Stage Presence

Olivia Dean’s infectious on-stage spirit is impossible not to get swept up in – even if the lyrics can flick into darker territory. Dean fully feels every ounce of the music she makes. You don’t need to watch to know she’s smiling throughout her performances, as live Spotify recordings reveal. 

Her branding is rooted in authenticity: she’s the friend you’d love to see at the pub, the date you could take to a 5 star restaurant, then end the night with in Maccies. Her music is the same; unglamourised glimpses into a mid-twenties Londoner lifestyle – sometimes romanticised, more often than not, genuine and ‘messy’. 

While her contemporaries (Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, JADE) lean more into theatrics and performance, Olivia Dean’s understated intimacy is what makes her so captivating.

The Art Of Loving: Soundtrack For A Season Of Change

‘The Art of Loving’ is a demonstration that self-love is enough, and romantic love is a gift that must be nurtured. This album will speak most to those in the midst of soul-crushing break-ups, the perpetually single, the eldest daughters, and the hyper-independents wondering if they can ever hand the reins to someone else. But regardless of its listener, it’s the kind of album that’s easy to play again and again, if for nothing but the cosiness it exudes. 

“...’The Art Of Loving’ is bound to become an omnipresent seasonal soundtrack. This is warm-and-fuzzy-girl autumn... Send the text, lean in, walk away. Olivia Dean’s album is here to show us that vulnerability can be sexy too.”

As trees turn burnt orange and cafes surrender to the scent of cinnamon, ‘The Art Of Loving’ is bound to become an omnipresent seasonal soundtrack. But this is not a re-do of brat summer, this is warm-and-fuzzy-girl autumn. Ditch the neon, the recklessness, the nonchalance… and be brave. Send the text, lean in, walk away. Olivia Dean’s album is here to show us that vulnerability can be sexy too.

With 4 upcoming sold-out O2 shows to back it up, it’s also here to show us an artist on the cusp of meteoric success.

So… why does everyone love Olivia Dean?

Why wouldn’t they?