Empoword Journalism

The Art of Loving by Olivia Dean – Review

Sydney Johnson

Olivia Dean tritt beim SWR3 New Pop Festival 2023 auf

Sydney Johnson

British pop-soul has had a new resurgence in the past few months with the drop of Olivia Dean’s latest release: The Art of Loving.

Dean brings a new, refreshing perspective on romance and self-love in her second studio album, released on 26th September 2025 through Capitol Records and Polydor Records.

This release has brought a newfound appreciation for British pop-soul and the pioneers that came before Dean, including the late, great Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lianne la Havas and many more. 

Olivia Dean’s Background

Originally from Haringey, London, Dean grew up with music influencing every thing she did. She even attended the Brit School in Croydon where she honed in on her musical skills and wrote songs.

Her middle name Lauryn, given to her by her parents pays homage to one of the leading greats of the neo-soul movement from the 90s, Lauryn Hill. Now, that’s dedication!

“British pop-soul has had a new resurgence in the past few months with the drop of Olivia Dean’s latest release: The Art of Loving.”

Before The Art of Loving, Dean was beginning her solo career with a few EP drops over the years including her hit ‘OK Love you Bye’ (2019), with which she landed her first record deal and a couple million listens.

Messy, her first studio album released in 2021, and won her three nominations in the 2024 Brit Awards. However, some argued that it didn’t give a clear image as to who Dean actually was as an artist.

The Art of Loving Cements Dean As A Star

Needless to say, The Art of Loving has solidified Dean’s artistic image. This album is Dean’s message to critics and listeners that she’s just getting started. 

This musical journey shows the inner workings of Dean’s mind and her insecurities, passion and gut-wrenching moments she experiences as she explains to herself and listeners, that it really is easy to experience love if we just take it step by step.

In The Art of Loving, Dean shows that she is breaking out of her shell as an artist. Her modern take on romance in the 21st century is refreshing to hear, a reminder to us all to remember the good in life and in ourselves. 

Unprecedented Chart Success

Early lead singles, ‘Man I Need’ and ‘Nice to Each Other’ charted on the Official Charts UK Top 10, along with her collaboration with Sam Fender on his song ‘Rein Me In’. Following the release of her sophomore album, ‘So Easy (To Fall in Love)’ also entered the charts peaking at number 3. According to NME, this makes Dean the first British female artist to have four songs simultaneously in the Top 10 since 2021. 

“Dean does a fantastic job of asking listeners to look at love from a perspective outside of what we think we know it means. “

The Art of Loving reached number one in album charts and marked the biggest opening week for a British female artist since Adele in 2021. 

The melancholy sounds of her voice weave between each song and it almost feels like you can hear her go through the grieving process of realising that you can find love outside of relationships and just by being. By existing, through friends, family, eating your favourite food and running through a patch of grass. The simple parts of life are what make it easy to fall in love. 

Standout Track

A standout track, ‘Loud’, has a set of orchestra strings playing in the back while Dean enters a vulnerable state with her lyrics: “And you weren’t allowed / To come around and throw my heart about / To turn me on just to turn me down / And everything’s unspoken now / I’m out, the silence is so loud“. The song is raw and invasive, but it does a fantastic job at showing the reality of heartbreak and finding yourself after. Dean even admitted that at one point of recording this song she had to take out some parts that felt too deep.

“The melancholy sounds of her voice weave between each song and it almost feels like you can hear her go through the grieving process of realising that you can find love outside of relationships and just by being”

“Vocally, it’s quite exposing. It’s a single vocal with a guitar and then strings. There was originally one take that was recorded and then I never sung it again, because I just found it to be too intense,” she said in an interview with NPR.

The Art of Loving is a whimsical, heartbreaking and truly romantic album that takes the listener through the highs and lows of love and how it surrounds us all in many ways. Dean does a fantastic job of asking listeners to look at love from a perspective outside of what we think we know it means. 

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Featured image courtesy of Harald Krichel on Wikimedia Commons. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here. 

Hello! My name is Sydney and I am a junior content editor and freelance journalist. I'm a US-native and have a background communications, video production and marketing. I like to spend my free time reading, writing, traveling and trying new restaurants.

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