Why The World Is Finally Paying Attention To Olivia Dean

Olivia Dean has broken through the music atmosphere with her sophomore album The Art of Loving. She released The Art of Loving on September 26th of this year, which was already a big day in music for new albums with Doja Cat dropping Vie, Zara Larsson dropping Midnight Sun, and Mariah Carey dropping Here For It All, but Dean’s album took the music world by surprise. 

Many would mark her big “break” as the release of The Art of Loving, but her art has been remarkable all the way back to the beginning of her career. 

Her very first album, Messy (2023), which gained a lot of attention after her set at the 2024 Glastonbury Festival, is full of emotion and impressive musical range for such a young artist. At the time of Messy, Dean was just 24 years old, but her talent was leagues ahead of everyone else in the music game. Her smooth jazzy and neo-soul sound makes her stand out, and that pop sounding production that usually backs up her work makes her a recipe for success. Her songs “Carmen”, “The Hardest Part”, “It Isn’t Perfect But It Might Be”, “Dive”, and “Man I Need”, are songs that take multiple music sounds and make a new category that so many artists are slowly taking a step into.

Dean decided to start the promo for her sophomore album with the single “Nice To Each Other” which instantly blew up on TikTok. Dean then released singles “Lady Lady” and “Man I Need” which was received with even higher praise than the first single. Thinking about the success of TikTok, it is well known that if a song goes viral on the social media platform, you need to capitalize on the attention. Dean was quick to acknowledge the love and show gratefulness in return, and when the time to drop The Art of Loving came, TikTok was quick to give flowers to the singer. She has also been announced as the musical guest for Saturday Night Live on November 15 alongside actor Glen Powell.

The Art of Loving is continuing with insane success, and songs that were not singles like “Baby Steps” and “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” are popping up everywhere. The album has already seen the No. 12 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Man I Need” and the album debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. Dean writes about taking life easy, falling in love, showing up for yourself, and caring for people all around you, and that is why people adore her. Olivia Dean is incredibly real and relatable, she writes about emotions in the most beautiful way, she has the voice of an angel, and has the genius of someone who has been in the industry for decades. It was only a matter of time until Olivia Dean became a sensation, because in reality she has always been one, the world just needed time to catch up.