It’s rare for music to be both deep and breezy, isn’t it? Minnie Riperton does it on “Lovin’ You” (1974) – all those casual la-la-la-las sinking into something profound. Corinne Bailey Rae did it too, with “Put Your Records On” (2006), flagging the nourishment of some much-needed downtime. Olivia Dean’s second album, The Art of Loving, manages the same feat. Her rich, intelligent voice casually blows through a range of plush soul-pop settings that shift the mood from the slow pour of the VIP lounge (all golden brass and richly upholstered string sections) to the barefoot chill of acoustic guitars at the beach bar.
In an interview with Elle over the summer, the 26-year-old Londoner – whose debut album Messy was shortlisted for the 2023 Mercury Prize – said the record was inspired by an exhibition she visited in LA by the artist Mickalene Thomas, titled All About Love. It was an homage to the late American author/activist bell hooks’ book of the same name: “That book is like the Bible,” Dean said. ‘Love is something that can feel quite mystical. It’s this thing we all crave but aren’t properly taught how to do. Why don’t we have a module at school? So the album was just me zooming into that and looking at the last two years of my life and everything I’ve learnt until now.”
