Description
Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving – Vinyl Record
The Art of Loving is Olivia Dean's second studio album, a twelve-song exploration of intimacy as a practice rather than a fixed feeling. Following the warmth and personal observation of Messy, Dean looks at romance, independence, friendship, uncertainty, and the small adjustments required when two lives begin to overlap. Her voice remains the center of the record: clear and controlled, but able to sound conversational inside arrangements drawing from soul, pop, jazz, and singer-songwriter traditions. The sequence moves from an introductory reflection toward increasingly specific relationships.
“The Art of Loving (Intro)” frames the album's central question before “Nice to Each Other” considers a connection that values care without rushing to conventional definition. “Lady Lady” turns inward, addressing identity and the expectations attached to becoming a particular kind of woman. “Close Up” narrows the distance between observation and participation. Across these opening songs, Dean resists presenting love as a reward reached after personal growth; it is one of the situations through which people discover their limits, habits, and capacity to listen.
“So Easy (To Fall in Love)” embraces attraction with melodic lightness, while “Let Alone the One You Love” brings consequence to the way thoughtless behavior can wound the person held closest. The first side therefore ends by complicating its earlier openness. Dean's phrasing gives conversational lines rhythmic elegance, and the arrangements leave room for bass, keys, guitar, strings, and backing voices to answer her without crowding the lyric. Classic soul influence is audible, but the emotional language and production remain contemporary.
“Man I Need” begins the second side with directness about the qualities that allow a partnership to function. “Something Inbetween” occupies the ambiguity that labels cannot always resolve, while “Loud” examines what happens when feeling exceeds a person's usual reserve. Dean is particularly attentive to scale: a major emotional shift may appear through a brief exchange, a change in routine, or the decision to say something plainly. That focus makes the album intimate without requiring every song to be a confessional ballad.
“Baby Steps” recognizes gradual movement, and “A Couple of Minutes” considers how even a short encounter can retain emotional weight. “I've Seen It” closes from a position of observation informed by experience rather than absolute certainty. Together, the songs define loving as attention, negotiation, repair, and the willingness to remain curious about another person. The record's sophistication comes from this patience. It does not force every relationship into success or failure, and its smooth surfaces do not conceal the difficult questions underneath them.
This Capitol Records edition presents The Art of Loving on one standard black vinyl record with a printed insert. Released September 26, 2025, it contains twelve tracks divided evenly across two sides, beginning with “The Art of Loving (Intro)” and ending with “I've Seen It.” The exact UPC distinguishes this standard pressing from retailer-exclusive colors and alternate packages. The complete album, original jacket, insert, and black LP form one physical configuration of Olivia Dean's second full-length studio release.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
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