Olivia Dean – The Art Of Loving (Silver Vinyl, 1 Year Anniversary Edition)

Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving is her second studio album, arriving after the breakthrough of Messy and framed here in a one-year anniversary edition. The record is built as a thoughtful study of love in several forms: romantic, platonic and self-directed, rather than a single breakup-or-romance narrative. That wider focus gives Dean plenty of room to sound intimate without becoming narrow, and it suits a songwriter who has been recognised with BRIT and Mercury Prize nominations.

Musically, this is a pop and R&B set with a warm, finely detailed feel, shaped by collaborators including Zach Nahome, Julian Bunetta, Matt Hales, Leon Michels and John Ryan. The material moves easily between tenderness and lift: “Nice To Each Other” plays with the push and pull of independence in dating, while songs such as “Man I Need” and “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” help define the album’s emotional range. Across its 12 tracks, Dean leans into honesty, self-discovery and the small everyday truths that make her songs feel close-up and lived-in.

For vinyl collectors, this anniversary pressing also has a clear reason to exist beyond routine repressing. It is presented as a limited half-speed master edition, with Stuart Hawkes credited for the cut at Metropolis Studios, giving this release a more distinct physical identity than a standard copy.

Features

• LP, 180g, Silver Vinyl, Limited 1 Year Anniversary Edition
• Half-speed master cut by Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis Studios, London

Reviews

• exceptionally well-made record is full of diaristic detail and sweetly understated vocals - The Guardian
• The soaring ‘The Art Of Loving’ adds to it - NME
• Olivia Dean scored big with her 2023 debut Messy - AllMusic.com