Olivia Dean: Confessions of a soul singer

Olivia Dean is an English, London-based singer-songwriter who has garnered a lot of attention in the music industry for her efforts to break down barriers for female, non-binary, and queer artists through her music. Olivia Dean’s commitment to gender inclusivity in the music industry is woven into her soulful pop songs, in which she strives to express herself through explorations in independence and self-empowerment.

The 21-year old singer-songwriter is not an artist who bows to the internal and external pressures of constant production that is so deeply threaded into the music industry. For this reason, she has become known across her fandom to not rush her creative production. She released her debut EP was titled Ok Love You Bye in 2019 which spawned the popular and highly relatable pop single “Password Change”. The song established Dean as a talented songwriter who wrote about important and relatable topics. Moreover, it established her pop, soul musical sensibilities, tied together with her well-trained and soulful vocals.

Olivia Dean’s musical journey started at a very young age and even as young as eight years old, Olivia knew she wanted to be a singer. While she was involved in vocal training and musical theater as a child, as a teenager she was accepted into the BRIT school where she spent two years immersed in the school’s music program. Although she has admitted to not vibe with formal musical instruction that well, it was here that she honed in her songwriting abilities.

In an interview with ‘Line of Best Fit’ Olivia Dean remarks about how there was no music scene in Walthamstow where she grew up. Therefore, BRIT was, in the artist’s own words, the best thing that ever happened to her. Although she spent the two years doing an hour and 45-minute long commute back and forth from her school every day, she believed it was worth it in the end as it allowed her to activate her musical potential without having to be immersed in any music scene.

It was at her last show at BRIT that an audience member came up to her afterward asking if she could be her manager. This was Emily Braham and she is currently still Dean’s manager. This event was a huge career starter for Olivia Dean who soon joined the chart-topping DnD gang on their tour. While she sang one of the group’s songs while on tour, ever since then she has been working tirelessly on creating, recording, and producing her own material.

Today, Olivia Dean is using the space she occupies in the industry to amplify the voices and perspectives of female, non-binary, and queer people. She argues that while her music is for everyone, she mainly writes about the struggles in her life from a woman’s perspective.

Olivia Dean’s upcoming release is an EP titled Growth, which is a collection of soulful songs all written over the last year. She told NME that the album is about falling in love again, which comes at a time when people are suggesting that her artistic and stage presence is centered on sad songs. Dean’s new album is set to be a ray of hope written in a very different headspace as people start walking away from the struggles of the pandemic. All in all, Olivia Dean is one to watch.