Olivia Dean : The Art of Loving Review

by Shannon Smith

Every songwriter creates stories in the hope of capturing love’s vocabulary without cliché. On The Art of Loving, Olivia Dean defines her heartfelt love stories. Each having soul, written from the inside out, melody and lyric arriving as one breath.

The record begins with “The Art of Loving (Intro),” where she uses multiple layers of her voice to set the thesis of intimacy as authorship. The transition to “Nice To Each Other” reframes courtesy as groove. Dean’s chorus hook is simple, cyclic, and affirming. Her vocal style has that soul that causes a revelation.

Her melodic instincts shine on “Lady Lady.” The contour moves in interesting ways, and the phrases descend as the lyrics tell of exhaling trust. When the gospel harmonies answer her lines, they sound like today’s R&B. The vocals are smoothered with soul. “Close Up” has the energy of affection, the piano as memory, brass swells, and guitar hits as heartbeats. The lyrics’ minimalism mirrors the emotional economy of real relationships.

Dean’s elegant rock soul arrives in “Let Alone the One You Love.” She uses the 6/8 meter to stretch syllables into sincerity, crafting rhymes that land naturally, never forced. Her falsetto in “A Couple Minutes” lifts, making the melody have a phrase into suspension, letting the groove set the mood. Her vocal lines hesitate when she sings, “of course I still care.” A songwriter’s sleight of hand that turns syntax into emotion for the cadence where vocal counterpoint takes the lead.

The closing “I’ve Seen It” captures acceptance rather than ecstasy. The verse moves through small, folk-like intervals, and the chorus resolves upward. Love, she implies, isn’t spectacle but practice. That’s the album’s poetic core explored with the craft of affection, drafted in melody.

The Art of Loving is Olivia Dean singing about love with soulful inflections. Every track has a gem of wisdom. The songwriting invites listeners to feel styles. Dean shows affection, listening, forgiving, and phrasing the truth beautifully. In doing so, she brings us today’s soul music.