Olivia Dean found her second album “very tricky” to start with.
The 26-year-old neo-soul pop star, like most artists, found her second album to be difficult – especially given the success of her Mercury Prize-nominated 2023 debut Messy – admitting to feeling “scared” by the “pressure”.
The Art of Loving – which shot to number one in the UK – also required Olivia to get deeply vulnerable and she needed to feel “comfortable” doing so in front of her collaborators.
She told Harper’s Bazaar of the process: “[It was] Very tricky. I definitely think I took on that trickiness at the beginning of the process. I was scared. I felt the pressure. I made a lot of stuff that I didn’t think was that good. Then I thought, ‘Okay, well, if I want to make an album about love and loving and my understanding of that, I need to be really comfortable. I need to be in a space where I’m able to be vulnerable, not just with myself but with other people that I’m working with; that must be done at home.'”
On how she overcame the initial trickiness, she added: “So I stripped it right back. I went back to East London, where I grew up, and we rented this house, and I brought my piano in and just invited everybody to come to me. I think that made such a difference to the music. It brought such a warmth and comfortability and authenticity, which is what I was trying to achieve. It was a lovely process making this album: lots of cups of tea, lots of red wine, and just my favorite people in the studio.”
This year has been huge for Olivia with the star set to play six nights at London’s The O2 next year in support of the record.
As for when fans can expect her third studio album, Olivia might head back to the studio “soon”, but believes “every good album comes as the result of some living” – so that’s what she plans to do.
She told the publication: “I have my own arena tour coming up—which is ridiculous! I’m excited to pour into that and make that a special experience for everybody. Maybe I’ll get back in the studio soon; it’ll be quite nice to express myself and make some new things. And travel! I’d like to see the world, whether that’s with touring or not. I think I’ve got some living to do now. I think every good album comes as a result of some living.”