""I've done all the classic stuff," Olivia Dean sings on "Nice to Each Other," the lead single from her second album, The Art of Loving. And it certainly does seem that way-the rising British neo-soul star studied songwriting at London's prestigious BRIT School, got her first gig as a backing vocalist for the chart-topping dance-pop group Rudimental, and, throughout the 2020s, has worked her way up the United Kingdom's traditional ladder to stardom: BBC Introducing Artist of the Year, Glastonbury, Jools Holland."
"She cites Amy Winehouse and Carole King in interviews and has covered the Supremes and Nat King Cole. So I'll respectfully disagree with Dean's follow-up claim, that "all the classic stuff... it never works." Arriving at the peak of her fame to date, The Art of Loving is a genuinely lovely collection of would-be classic pop songs, all variations on the titular theme."
Olivia Dean studied songwriting at the BRIT School and rose from backing vocalist for Rudimental to BBC Introducing Artist of the Year, performing at Glastonbury and Jools Holland. The Art of Loving centers on variations of love and delivers would-be classic pop songs that move with a timeless, indeterminate grace. Dean drew inspiration from bell hooks' All About Love and an exhibition by Mickalene Thomas. Production with Zach Nahome favors economical, vintage-informed choices: bongos, a Brill Building Rhodes organ, Motown-style vocal hooks, concise piano motifs, and double-time horn passages that accentuate intimate arrangements.
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