Olivia Dean

Olivia Dean seemed to be all the rage during the back half of 2025 and after listening to her sophomore smash hit album, The Art of Loving, I really don't understand why? This album is a perfect example of where Pop Soul is today, with some nice compositions and nice writing that feels very surface level and not much else. The songs here don't even really feel like they compliment one another and instead feel like variations of the same plain sound Olivia is dabbling in. I am surprised why this album has such a big Pop appeal as well because there really wasn't anything that stood out here in my eyes, I wouldn't call this generic but it is certainly around that same vein. I was waiting this whole project for Olivia to really wow me and unfortunately it just never came, this album doesn't feel exciting at all and instead feels more than comfortable being just good at best and that frustrates me quite a bit. I feel The Art of Loving may not be the album for me, and I can honestly live with that, but I want to caution others wanting to check out this out of nowhere star and her album that there isn't anything new or special here. This album is very accessible and simple, and if that is what you want then go ahead, but if you are expecting a Soul record that will help define the modern times then I would feel in good faith to warn you that is nowhere near what this album is. Nuff said.