The Art of Loving

by Olivia Dean

Overview

Singer/songwriter, keyboardist, and producer Olivia Dean scored big with her 2023 debut Messy, a Top Ten hit in her native U.K. and a nominee for the 2023 Mercury Prize. Just before the release of her 2025 follow-up, The Art of Loving, she became the first woman since fellow BRIT School alum Adele to have three simultaneous Top Ten singles. The road was not without bumps. Dean had started work on songs for her second album in Los Angeles but found the material unsatisfying, so she returned home and rented a house in East London to write and record. The cozier and more familiar setting also enabled her to create The Art of Loving in one space with a smaller group of collaborators, making it less of a patchwork, aided most by Zach Nahome, producer or co-producer of every track. (Bastian Langebæk, Matt Hales, and Max Wolfgang constitute the returning cast.) Moved by artist Mickalene Thomas' exhibition All About Love, as well as the like-titled bell hooks book that inspired it, Dean thought more deeply about love as an ever-present aspect of life rather than a storybook concept. The first fruit was "Nice to Each Other," a breezy and strummy pop song, full of self-effacing humor, calling for her and her partner to live in the moment. It signified on multiple levels the release of a pressure valve, and was actually Dean's second Top Ten hit of the year, just after "Rein Me In," headlined by Sam Fender and featuring Dean as co-writer and duettist. The lightly galloping, gospel-inflected "Man I Need," an amiable request for her man to open up and let her into his life, completed Dean's Top Ten trifecta. "So Easy (To Fall in Love)," a charming number co-written by hitmaker Amy Allen, became Dean's fourth Top Ten single with a touch of early-'60s Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Most of what remains on The Art of Loving has as much easygoing appeal. That goes for moments when Dean confronts her man to ask for clarity (the fine retro-soul ballad "Close Up"), informs him that he's slipping ("Let Alone the One You Love," with loose, rustic, and elegant qualities akin to prime Delaney & Bonnie), and ingeniously relates the before-and-after effects of a split (the bobbing "Baby Steps"). "I've Seen It," the intimate acoustic finale, articulates Dean's philosophical outlook on love in stirring fashion. This is a couple cuts above her promising debut. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	09/26/2025
Label:	Island
UPC:	0602478163210

Tracks

1. The Art of Loving (Intro)
2. Nice to Each Other
3. Lady Lady
4. Close Up
5. So Easy (To Fall in Love)
6. Let Alone the One You Love
7. Man I Need
8. Something Inbetween
9. Loud
10. Baby Steps
11. A Couple of Minutes
12. I've Seen It

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Olivia Dean   Primary Artist,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
The Wired Strings   Primary Artist
Zara Benyounes   Violin
Max Wolfgang   Bass,Organ,Piano,Congas,Guitar,Percussion,Synthesizer,Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)
Charis Jenson   Violin
Zach Nahome   Bass,Drums,Percussion,Synthesizer,Guitar (Electric)
John Ryan   Guitar
Michael Trainor   Violin
Meghan Cassidy   Viola
Bastian Langebaek   Organ,Wurlitzer,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Vocals (Background)
Finn Zeferino-Birchall   Vocals (Background)
Jermaine Amissah   Saxophone
Daniel Rogerson   Vocals (Background)
Joel Waters   Vocals (Background)
Joe Bristow   Trombone
Jack Courtney   Trumpet
Patrick Kiernan   Violin
Emma Owens   Viola
Homer Steinweiss   Drums
Leon Michels   Bass,Guitar,Keyboards,Percussion,Guitar (Acoustic)
Julian Bunetta   Drums
Rosie Danvers   Cello
Jenny Sacha   Violin
Kerenza Peacock   Violin
Bryony James   Cello
Sarah Sexton   Violin
Hayley Pomfrett   Violin
Tobias Jesso, Jr.   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Max Wolfgang   Composer,Vocal Producer,Additional Production
Olivia Dean   Composer
Zach Nahome   Effects,Composer,Engineer,Executive Producer,Additional Production
John Ryan   Composer,Engineer
Bastian Langebaek   Composer,Producer,Drum Programming
Deschanel Gordon   Composer
Adele Philips   Assistant Engineer
Austin Christy   Engineer
Louis Edward Ragland   Composer
Matteo Villacci   Design
Aliyah Otchere   Cover Photo
Emily Braham   Management,Creative Director
James A. Hawkins   Composer
Jan Trafas   Assistant Engineer
Liam Kay   Design
Willem Ward   A&R
Matt Hales   Composer
Nick Taylor   String Engineer
Homer Steinweiss   Composer
Leon Michels   Composer
Tommy Danvers   Session Producer
Amy Allen   Composer
Simon Francis   Mastering
Rosie Danvers   String Arrangements
Jo Charrington   A&R
Sarah Howell   Management
Jack Davison   Cover Photo
Maverick Sabre   Composer
Charlie Holmes   Mixing
Nolan Lambroza   Composer
Tobias Jesso, Jr.   Composer
Dan Ewins   Engineer