Despite her calm, cool and collected exterior and silky smooth vocals, Olivia Dean is not afraid to say she’s messy. She doesn’t have her sh-t together, and she’s open about it. “The truth is,” she offers, “In an age where everybody’s pretending to be kind of perfect online and stuff, it’s quite refreshing to be the opposite.”
Following the release of her first EP in 2021, titled Growth, Dean struggled to offer “proof” of the gains and improvements she’d achieved. Instead, she settled for something different altogether: the truth. Now, her debut album is all about embracing exactly where you’re at in life, even if it’s not where you thought you’d be. Alongside that acceptance, she explores the idea of letting yourself be loved by others – something which, admittedly, doesn’t come naturally to the fiercely independent artist.
As she celebrates the release of her debut album, Messy, we spent an afternoon together at The Standard Hotel in London to find out more about her process, her inspiration and why she just wants her fans to have fun. At the end of the day, “It’s not that deep,” she tells us, laughing and smiling.
Last time we caught up, you were gearing up for the release of Growth — which explored vulnerability and learning to love yourself. What’s changed for you since then?
I feel like I’ve become a different person since then. I’m not gonna say I’ve mastered it, because that’s actually a big fat lie, but I think I’ve gotten really good at loving myself. I think this record is exploring the idea of letting yourself be loved by other people, which is something that I find quite hard because I’m quite an independent person and a bit of a tough cookie. Like, I don’t need you. But actually, I’m learning it’s okay to let yourself be loved by someone and also then giving it back. That’s where I’m at right now. Yeah, it’s been a journey.
The new album is called Messy – aside from learning to accept love, what can you tell us about the inspiration behind it?
I didn’t know what the album was gonna be called for a really long time. And I felt like I kind of set myself up a bit by calling the last project Growth because I was like, “Okay, well, now my debut album has to be about what I’ve grown into.” And then I was like, “What have I grown into? What am I?” and that sort of really held me back for a bit because I felt like I needed to present this finished thing and it was going to be so defining.
Then I realized that all I could actually do was write about how I’m feeling and where I am right now. And honestly? That is kind of a mess. I’m trying to flip it from being a negative word and make it positive. In an age where everybody’s pretending to be kind of perfect online and stuff, it’s quite refreshing to be the opposite. I’m kind of messy. My room is messy.
I saw an exhibition quite early on in the album-making process called “Life Between Islands” at the Tate and it was celebrating all the art that was made in the cross culture between when people came home from the Windrush, and I felt so seen in that exhibition. I remember thinking “That’s me, like, I’m kind of like a mix of two things” and I felt quite insecure about that for a long time. Now I’m like, “Nah, it’s cool to be like, a mess of things.” Those are the surrounding themes of the album but mostly, I was just like, “Don’t overthink it, call it messy.” With the music as well, it’s not one specific genre; it really ebbs and flows, because I like to learn different kinds of music. I was like, I’m not going to make a Motown record or just ballads, I want to make loads of stuff. So if I call it messy, no one can say that my album’s a mess. I’ve already claimed that for myself.
What can you tell us about the process of creating an album? Where did you start?
For me, it always comes from the song first. And then if the song can stand alone, just like chords and lyrics, then it’s good and then I can move on to production. I wrote a lot of the album outside of London, I went to Bath and did some writing there. I was living in London having these experiences and so then being able to take a step back and reflect on them every other weekend or once a month was really good for my brain. So I wrote a lot of it in Bath and with different people. I went to Copenhagen for a bit and did some writing, which was really cool. We recorded it in like two weeks.
As a rising artist the pressure to create a debut album must be pretty intense. How did you navigate that?
Matt Hales, who co-produced the record and co-wrote half of it, had some really good advice. He helped me realise that I can’t compare my art before I’ve even made it. He was like, you have to actually expel everyone else’s albums from your mind and just make an album that you would love to listen to. And that was good, because then I just stopped comparing the production and stuff to other records that were hot at the moment. I was just like, it doesn’t really matter. The debut album thing is really hard, but as I said, I was like, I’m not gonna let this stay in my mind, I didn’t want to feel so much pressure that it stops me from actually making anything. Also, I want to make loads of albums, this is just the album I’m making right now. But there’ll be more.
Exactly. Speaking of the album you’re making right now, what do you think is different about the sound of this project? Were you inspired by anyone during the process?
I think it feels organic. I haven’t felt the need to make things super electronic because I want it to be played on the radio and stuff. I’ve really just made it because I like the sound of it. I really wanted to make an album that was timeless. I was listening to a lot of Bill Withers, his music is so warm and just like, pure and just makes your heart feel nice. I was also listening to Lauryn Hill’s album and I just felt that it was such a step outside of everything else at the time. I’m not comparing myself to Lauryn Hill, because obviously, she’s absolutely incredible. I just mean that type of music. I listened to Mac Miller’s last album and like how sparse some of the production was in some of the songs. His voice was so up front and in your ear. That’s what I really wanted. I wanted my vocals to be really upfront.
We’ve spoken a bit about the pressures surrounding a debut and the idea of making things for the radio. How do you feel TikTok has influenced the way that you make music, if at all?
I definitely can see how it has influenced other people’s music but if anything, it’s influenced me in the other way. I have rebelled against TikTok, like I would definitely say this album is not geared towards doing well in 30-second clips. The songs really build, they start off really sparse and end up in a certain way. They’re not about instant gratification. Maybe that’s not a good thing for my success on TikTok, but I don’t personally use that as a marker of success. As long as I’m selling tickets, and there’s bums in the seats… I don’t mind if my TikTok doesn’t go viral. You know?
In seats, in the air, wherever. Right? Now this is a tricky question, but what’s your favorite song from the album and why?
It changes all the time. I really like “Dive,” it’s so refreshing for me to have a happy song because I feel like a lot of my other projects, like when I listened back, I was like “Oh, god, you’re quite sad.”
Do you feel like you’re happier now?
Yeah, so much happier. And it’s a song about just giving love to someone and being ready to just jump in. It’s so summery and performing it is so fun. It just brought me a lot of joy.
It definitely brings other people joy, too. What in general then, do you hope that fans will take away from the record?
That life is a mess, and you don’t need to be a perfect person. You don’t need to know what you’re doing all the time. I just want it to be warm and for it to be an album that they can hopefully come back to like in the way that I go back to my favorite records like Carole King’s tapestry. But I don’t know, enjoy it. It’s not that deep. Enjoy it!
It’s not that deep is definitely the message. In terms of your future plans then, you recently performed your first New York show – how do you feel about the concept of ‘Breaking America’?
Intrigue? I would just say intrigue because I’m fascinated by America. I’m intrigued to see how they receive me, how the music does and if people will be into it. It’s just such an adventure, isn’t it? And like, how beautiful that music can help you do that. To me, it’s crazy that there were 700 people that wanted to see me in New York. You don’t even know me! So I’m just interested. I think it’s gonna be good.
Messy is now available to stream on all major platforms.
