We’ve needed someone like Olivia Dean for a long time. Her music, while influenced by the genres of jazz and r&b, is like a breath of fresh air. Through every carefully sung note and precisely struck guitar chord, she manages to capture the essence of love and life in its entirety.
Her most recent album, The Art of Loving, for which she won the Grammy for Best New Artist, is a love letter to womanhood. From its fruitful beginnings in love to its fateful endings, she manages to capture most emotions and experiences one can face during young adulthood. The album is transcendent in a way that shocked me the first time I heard it — a moment in which I instantly knew the impact she was going to have.
While listening to this album for the first time, I laughed while reminiscing, cried from nostalgia, and even danced out of pure joy. And, not to be corny, it made me feel like everything was genuinely going to be okay, especially as a 19-year-old college student. Regardless, while a review may never truly capture the absolute genius of this album, I hope to at least translate some of it.
“The Art of Loving” (Intro)
“It wasn’t all for nothing, you taught me something.” There is no worse feeling than the one of time wasted, especially when it revolves around a person from the past. Oftentimes, we berate ourselves for having chosen wrong or for making decisions we now regret. However, as sung and accompanied by piano, there’s “something lost and something gained in the art of loving.” Love could never be a waste, as each expression of it forms us into who we are now. This song, in only 38 seconds, captures the complexity and beauty in what the art of loving truly is, a tone that follows us into the rest of the repertoire.
“Nice To Each Other”
This song feels, in a very modern expression, like a situationship. The beauty of its lyricism, however, is through its ambiguity. During the song, hints are thrown at the fact that the couple aren’t together in a traditional sense; the most prominent one being “And wait for you to call it off, ‘cause I don’t want a boyfriend.” However, I believe the focus of the song to be in the emotional unavailability from both parts. Too much to unpack, too much to say, and enough that it blocks the flood of speaking “I love you” into existence.
“Lady Lady”
This is the best song of the album (I say, totally unbiased). On a more serious note, “Lady Lady” has a different type of beauty to it. At first, the use of congas as an underlying beat captured my attention. I fell in love with the instrumentals before I had truly processed the lyrics. This song, being the only one centered on the self rather than on romantic love, speaks of Lady Lady, who I interpret to be Mother Nature or womanhood in general. It captures the experience of constant change and the growth that comes with being a woman. It encourages you to be uncomfortable and let yourself be changed by Lady Lady. We are ever-changing, molded by each experience and situation we face. Listen to her, she’s “the man” — we all are.
“Close Up”
To chase after someone who doesn’t want you back doesn’t hurt because of how much you ran after them, but more so because of what you find when you finally catch up to them. Seeing someone “close up,” in the sense of the song, is facing the reality that you don’t mean as much to someone as they mean to you. It’s a hard pill to swallow and a horrible weight to carry. However, it teaches us to go where we’re wanted; to love those who can love us back. “Did I misread completely, every single touch?” is a question that is commonly asked during an experience of this nature. The answer, usually, is no.
“So Easy (To Fall In Love)”
Love should feel as dreamy as the musical composition of this song is. Self love is such a wonderful thing. How can we love someone else when we don’t think of ourselves as worthy enough of receiving it? Olivia Dean puts it simply, but so accurately. In fear of being perceived as arrogant, we don’t embrace the fact that if we’re capable of giving love, we should be capable of receiving it. As said around the world, treat others the way you want to be treated; and if you treat someone lovingly, they should do the same for you.
“Let Alone The One You Love”
“Let Alone The One You Love” felt like a punch to the gut. Through her almost angry enunciation of the lyrics, Olivia Dean demands an answer from someone who didn’t do right by her at all. “If you knew me at all, you wouldn’t try to keep me small. Who would do that to a friend? Let alone the one you love.” It’s incredibly difficult to accept that the person who you thought was once “the one” is hurting you purposefully. In fact, it’s difficult to even put into words the pain caused by that situation. This nonverbal pain is captured perfectly in the last humming rift sung, one which describes those emotions without words. It’s like a tidal wave of hurt and anger.
“Man I Need”
This song is the most romcom song to ever exist. From its upbeat composition to lyrics you can’t help but sing with a smile, “Man I Need” is a perfect representation of what having a crush is like. It perfectly captures the journey of wondering what they’re doing every second of every day, wanting to talk to them, wanting to meet their friends, and even worrying whether they feel the same way. And while crushes usually consume you until you’re an anxious mess who seems like they only learned how to walk and talk two days ago, the song manages to only capture the absolute joy and excitement of its beginnings. It’s so much fun! (And I truly wish it was like that always.)
“Something Inbetween”
Another situationship song that, in all honesty, lets us know we need to put an end to them. This one, however, is a situationship with one’s own feelings (bear with me). Olivia Dean describes herself as “I’m more, can we still be something in-between?” She justifies this with “I’m too young to believe until the end, I’m too scared to cut it short.” The common theme sung is the fear of ending a relationship because she’s scared of regretting it later on, even when she’s clearly not growing anymore as a person. The song puts into perspective the hold love can have on us, even if it may be a fantasy. In these situations, we’re held back by nostalgia: the biggest manipulator in existence. My take, however, is when do we start living for ourselves?
“Loud”
“The silence is so loud.” This song is pretty self-explanatory in the sense that one person played with the feelings of the other. However, the beauty of it is through its metaphorical lyrics emphasized with violins. The song commences with “At my house, four hands at the piano, you sure knew how to play,” yet ends with “Here I am, two hands at the piano. The one I let you play.” It tells a story of letting someone in, but then being abandoned. You stay with not only the feeling of being let go, but with the realization that they stopped wanting you once they saw you in all your vulnerability, leaving you to question what exactly is so wrong with you.
“Baby Steps”
I’m definitely no expert in love, but I know enough about getting over it. Like said in the song, I have learned to be my “own pair of safe hands.” Throughout the journey of letting someone go and learning to be independent once more, it’s hard to see yourself as your own person. Yet, that experience is life-altering and for the better. I do recognize that I’m able to say that now because I’ve healed, but I remember how it sucks horribly in the beginning. The solution, like stated, is taking baby steps. Learn to love yourself, be there for yourself, and truly understand no one will ever know you like you do. Remember, “I won’t fall back if I fall forwards.” You get up and keep going.
“A Couple Minutes”
You know your chest is going to hurt just by the introductory violins of “A Couple Minutes.” In all honesty, this song is the coffee you have with an ex to “catch up” that ends with you later mourning the person you once loved while sitting alone on your couch — a couch you probably once shared with that same person. However, before that teary trek back to your home, you have a couple minutes where you laugh like you used to, recognize the same facial expressions you were once so familiar with, and reminisce about what could’ve been. It’s a heart-wrenching experience, but loss is a part of life. “Love’s never wasted if it’s shared.” Love can transcend being with a person. Wishing them the best can be enough too.
“I’ve Seen It”
The last song of The Art of Loving makes sure to encompass all forms of love. From fantasy to reality, platonic to romantic, and unhealthy to everlasting. The song is beautiful because of its simplicity. It proves the point that we’ve all seen and experienced love. The birds who chirp together in the mornings, the couples who sit with their pinkies intertwined, the kids running into their parent’s arms after a school day, and the laughs we share with those we love at the dinner table. This song couldn’t close off the album more perfectly than when Dean sings “I guess it’s been inside me all along.” We all have it inside us as well. While there could be many answers, “I’ve Seen It” states the real art of loving to be in its lack of predicament. For love is everywhere, and we are too.
I truly believe that this album will transcend time. I’m a firm believer that humans are beings of both light and love, and darkness and hate. We choose which side we want to indulge. However, when projects such as The Art of Loving are birthed into the world, we’re reminded of how much love we’re capable of not only giving, but receiving. No matter how you choose to live your life, if you do so basing your actions on love and kindness, you continue to form part of light — one the world so desperately needs.