GENRE: Pop/R&B

LABEL: Capitol Uk/ Polydor

REVIEWED: 2 October, 2025

RATING: 6.8/10

Olivia Dean’s sophomore album The Art of Loving refines the warm neo-soul and classic pop instincts that marked her debut, trading some of Messy’s raw edges for a softer, more deliberate set of songs about romantic, familial and self love. The record leans on strings, brass and vintage-styled keys to create an inviting soundscape that often feels like a sunny Sunday soundtrack — intimate, tidy and easy to live with. 

Vocally, Dean is unfussily charismatic: her voice carries emotional clarity without grandstanding, which lets subtler arrangements breathe and land. Moments such as “Nice to Each Other” and “Man I Need” balance playfulness and vulnerability, and the album’s quieter tracks reward repeated listens with thoughtful lyrical detail. Critics have praised the maturity and tenderness of the songwriting and the record’s cohesive theme inspired by texts like bell hooks’ All About Love. 

Yet the album isn’t without reservations. Several reviewers note that Dean’s retro referencing — Motown girl-group hooks, Brill Building flourishes and Laurel Canyon hues — sometimes drifts toward replication rather than reinvention, producing a few songs that read as pastiche rather than wholly distinct statements. That measured, polished approach makes the album extremely pleasant but occasionally keeps it from feeling daring. 

Overall, The Art of Loving is a confident, well-crafted follow-up that cements Olivia Dean as a compelling voice in contemporary pop-soul. It’s an album meant to be lived with comforting, musically assured and emotionally generous — even if its safest choices hint at a bigger creative leap yet to come.