Olivia Dean broke through as a pop star in 2024 by embracing chaos and taking bold risks with her debut album. Rather than playing it safe, her willingness to get messy paid off with stellar results.
Olivia Dean could have played safe on her debut album. Instead, she got messy – with stellar results.
The 24-year-old Olivia Dean graduate from the Brit School has an innate perfectionist streak, living by the motto: “If it doesn’t ignite passion, don’t pursue it.”
As an aspiring musician, this mindset paid dividends.
Her throwback pop-soul style and velvety jazz-infused vocals captivated audiences, leading to sold-out shows across Europe, amassing two million Spotify followers, and even landing a role as a Chanel ambassador—all before her debut album release.
Yet, as Olivia Dean approached her first album, doubt crept in.
“I placed immense pressure on myself for it to be flawless,” she admits.
“It became paralyzing. I couldn’t create unless it met my impossible standards.
“It was only when I allowed myself to embrace imperfection that I began crafting something remarkable.”
The album became a narrative of letting go: releasing expectations, navigating uncertainty, and overcoming youthful heartache. Experimenting with her songwriting, she revamped Motown with a contemporary twist in Dive and crafted an otherworldly atmosphere with heavy vocoder use in UFO.
Unveiled during her Glastonbury debut, the album earned a Mercury Prize nomination.
Now, having secured the runner-up position in BBC Radio 1’s Sound Of 2024, Olivia Dean reflects, “It feels surreal. When I reflect on this year, I know I created an album I adore, but all the rest? I dreamed of Mercury Prize nods, of being on the Sound Of list.
“It’s surreal. That’s the only way to describe it.”
Growing up in Highams Park, a neighborhood in north-east London, Dean had a clear passion for becoming a singer from a young age.
Observing her cousin, Ashley Walters, a rapper and actor from So Solid Crew, achieve chart-topping success from afar, she found inspiration from another London artist.
“When people recall their first record, they often aim for something impressive, but for me, it was a simple trip with my Granny to Woolworths to purchase Leona Lewis’s ‘A Moment Like This’ on a CD single,” she shares.
“Pop music was where my heart lay; I was immersed in the sounds of Leona and JLS, reveling in every moment of it.”
During this time, her father introduced her to the music of Carole King and Al Green, while her mother, a barrister, favored Jill Scott, Angie Stone, and Lauryn Hill (from whom Olivia derives her middle name).
Music resonated throughout their home, yet musical aptitude wasn’t exactly a hereditary trait in their family.
“My mom actually got booted from her school choir for being so off-key,” Dean chuckles.
“They were like, ‘Christine, you’re not helping, you’ve got to go.’ And honestly, I wasn’t always the best singer either. I picked up a bit of that pitchiness from my mom. I definitely needed lessons.”
However, what she did inherit from her mother was determination. Olivia Dean’s school didn’t prioritize music, but she insisted on belting out Alicia Keys during assemblies until “everyone got a bit tired of me.”
Subsequently, she enrolled in a Saturday school, delving into musical theatre and drama, where she encountered her first serious case of stage fright.
“I performed ‘Tomorrow’ from Annie in a competition, and I was so nervous that I had to turn my back to the audience,” Olivia Dean recounts.
“The pianist kept encouraging me, saying, ‘Turn around, you’ve got this.’ So I faced everyone, tears streaming down my face, and belted out ‘Tomorrow’. Surprisingly, it must have worked because I ended up taking second place!”
At 15 years old, Olivia Dean secured a spot at the Brit School, determinedly making a three-hour round trip daily for classes. “I was dead set on going there, no matter what,” she recalls.
Craftily, she joined the theatre course with Machiavellian tactics, realizing her qualifications weren’t suitable for music studies. After a few terms, she switched gears, starting to compose songs as assignments on a second-hand piano she persuaded her mom to buy.
“You don’t start with the gems, I can assure you that,” she admits.
“The creativity needs to flow, even if it means creating a lot of bad songs initially.”
Nevertheless, by her graduation concert, Olivia Dean had penned enough “gems” to catch the eye of a manager.
“The only hitch was she couldn’t reach me by email because they couldn’t message minors.”
After connecting, Emily Braham (her current manager) arranged an audition with Rudimental. To her surprise, she aced it.
Her debut performance was in front of 16,000 people at the Sziget Festival in Budapest, and she appeared on the band’s 2019 single, Adrenaline.
During that year, she also released her own track, Reason to Stay, a heartfelt introduction to her lovesick melodies.
She swiftly followed up with an EP recorded in a converted east London pub, notably featuring live instruments instead of samples and synthesizers.
The title track, OK Love You Bye, racked up millions of streams, securing the singer a contract with EMI Records. Over the subsequent three years, she tracked her evolution – both as a songwriter and as a woman – through her music.
“Some people keep journals, but songs are more concise,” Olivia Dean remarks. “And in that period, I evolved from an infatuated, heartbroken girl to someone truly empowered.”
She spotlights two tracks, Be My Own Boyfriend and The Hardest Part, as pivotal. The latter witnesses her breaking up with a boyfriend unable to cope with her growing independence.
“Your views used to shape me / But this time, I made my own,” she sings. “You had the chance to love me, but evidently, you won’t.”
“I truly discovered myself during that phase,” she reflects. “Since then, I’ve been like, ‘I’m a significant, mature woman,’ and I won’t allow anyone to take advantage.
“I aim to infuse that into others’ lives, reminding them they don’t need someone else to validate their existence.”
Dean’s musical themes diverge from the well-trodden paths of female empowerment prevalent in pop since TLC’s anti-Scrub anthem in 1999. Her recent single, “Ladies Room,” blends vintage soul beats with a contemporary notion: the importance of personal time within a relationship. Conversely, her breakout hit, “Dive,” encapsulates the jittery thrill of entering a new romance.
Reflecting on “Dive,” she recalls the happiness of being in love and channeling that into a joyful, lighthearted song—a departure from her usual somber repertoire. Yet, her album closer, “Carmen,” infuses Soca rhythms as a heartfelt tribute to her grandmother, an emblem of courage as part of the Windrush generation.
Olivia Dean’s upbringing in east London as a mixed-race individual initially made her feel like an outsider, but as a musician, it cultivated comfort in embracing diverse influences and genres. Initially bewildered by genre constraints, she later realized her ability to transcend boundaries. This realization empowered her to create music across various genres, debunking the notion of confining oneself to a singular style.
However, the music industry’s lag in acknowledging this freedom became evident when a streaming service labeled her alt-pop ballad, “UFO,” as R&B—a classification she adamantly rejected. Despite potentially fitting into that genre with other tracks, she refused to accept such categorization for “UFO,” challenging the industry’s attempt to confine her artistry.
Olivia Dean has embraced her evolution, finding comfort in not confining herself to a single niche within the music industry. She believes this versatility could be her superpower, allowing her to leap from any musical style on her album to create something entirely new.
To her, the specifics don’t matter. She feels empowered to explore various musical touchpoints and venture into uncharted territories.
It’s evident that Olivia Dean’s journey is just commencing, yet she has a clear ambition in mind—a formidable one at that.
“My ultimate goal is headlining Glastonbury. It’s always been my aspiration.”
Consider yourself warned, Pyramid Stage.
Olivia Dean earned a spot on the BBC Sound of 2024 list, chosen by a diverse panel consisting of 149 music critics, broadcasters, festival organizers, and past nominees such as Jorja Smith, PinkPantheress, and Tom Grennan. The winner will be revealed tomorrow.
Read More: BBC Sound of 2024: South Africa’s Tyla says ‘people are not ready’ for debut album
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