The Art of Loving Album Review

The Art of Loving (Intro)

The opener of the album starts off with a soft piano piece accompanied by the delicate vocals of Ms. Olivia Dean, giveing the impression that the audience is walking into a gallery or a garden. The birds chirping in the background invoke a feeling of appreciation for nature and create a preview for what the album will bring. Relating love to physical art and quoting the Disney Princess Belle, starting an art project by just meaninglessly throwing paint at a canvas offers a piece of creative advice that many people who don’t know how to start might find super useful. 

Nice To Each Other

“Here we are back again.” Back again the conflict arises of whether or not to go after someone she loves. Olivia is at a crossroads: either she can follow her lover to Italy or stay put. She goes back and forth between every possibility of what can happen in Italy. She thinks technically, being unfamiliar with his space and where he keeps all of his things. She knows that there is a fine line between them being the right match or not. It also seems that she is aware of the negative energy she provides in the relationship. I find it extremely relatable when Dean brings up “the classic stuff” in a relationship. She expresses that she has no interest in going through the cliche routines of a relationship. She wants her partner to promise to be different from the rest that she has had. Admitting that she will “wait for you to call it off” shows that she is typically very passive in relationships. She wants the man to take the lead, call the shots and have the confidence to say what he feels. She knows that she wants it to be over, but she wants him to be the one to tear it down. Proclaiming that the two can still be “nice to each other” reveals that she is not closed off to relations but only commitment and routine dating. She wants something real and talkative and raw. The outro of the song is a hazy echo with a slight sound of a tambourine running through and a short piano riff to end this chapter of feelings.

Lady Lady 

The firm sound of an organ takes us back to a place with meaning. She immediately opens up with a reference of a future nostalgia that this house will hold for her. She sees this house as a place she thought she would always need but now she realizes, moving on and out might not be so bad. She references things that relate to her past like her old hairstyles and her old clothes that are not right for her anymore. The reference of hair is a beautiful thing considering the popular beliefs people have of “hair holding memories.” To make big changes in life it is a common decision for people to change up their hairstyles or hair colors. The background choir gives the song a churchy feel that glorifies the feeling of being a changing woman and making it seem like a sort of holy experience. The soft snare of the chorus and the lyrics “That lady lady, she’s the man” is a powerful statement putting a surge of confidence behind this persona. The confirmation that she knows she is growing and changing and she is accepting of it shows off a type of swagger that most people can’t. 

Close Up

An ominous start to this track tells us that Olivia is waiting for a love interest to call back on her with a sign of interest in her company. She alludes to the fact that this is somebody that she feels she needs to chase after. She feels strange around this person because she feels she has to make most of the effort. She lists off questions that make her seem insecure about where they stand. A quick hit of the drums takes us into a chorus of her second guessing herself and the state of the relationship. She doesn’t feel smart or beautiful around this person. She thinks back to all the time she has spent with them and wonders if any of their time together was worth it or even meant anything. 

So Easy (To Fall in Love)

A soft horn opens up this track accompanied by an open acoustic guitar. The strumming pattern mixes perfectly with the first line “I could be the twist.” Following this, Olivia describes herself as a person that could change someone’s life in various positive ways. She claims that she can be the person to rely on with ease and that it is not difficult to fall in love with her. The horns that come in with the line “It’s so easy to fall in love with” kind of remind me of places where settled down couples would shop. She is painting this picture of a couple that has built a life together based on cliche couple things such as spending time in Central Park – things you can picture happening in a movie. She simplifies the true meaning of falling in love with someone by bringing these simple things to the table. This is so interesting to me because it is a complete 180 from the way that she refers to love in “Nice to Each Other.” With that being said, perhaps this entire track is meant to be a satire mockery of generic and boring love. 

Let Alone The One You Love 

This track opens up with a feeling of defeat towards a recently broken relationship. Olivia admits that her last love was someone that she was almost sure would keep her safe and be the one. She tells a story that started off as something she thought she deserved and had waited for. But alas, she tells us that all men are the same. There is a sting of betrayal that lies in the question: “Who would do that to a friend? Let alone the one you love.” She goes on to describe the ways in which she was there for the person and supportive. She scolds him for not doing the same for her and making her feel like she always overreacted. The blend of this outro gives the feeling shared in this song a validating feeling and emphasizes the importance of self worth.

Man I Need 

The immediate sting of the keys accompanied by the lyrics “Talk to me, talk to me” demands that everyone listen to what needs to be shared. A steady drumbeat rings out as she describes things that draw her back in. She recognizes that all these things like the Bossa nova music that rings out are small bribes in a relationship. That this smooth jazz is a way to create a sort of sexy and hypnotic atmosphere to make her feel important. It is clear that this person has invited her right into their life by the line: “Introduce me to you best friend.”An introduction like this proves that she is wanted in the person’s life. That they intend to include her with people they care about. The prechorus brings in a moment of self awareness that she knows she can’t forget about this person. In the chorus she begs that he “Come be the man I need.” She knows there is something inside this person that can make her happy. She wants to skip the wait and be together with him. This is a common theme throughout this record – she is so insistent on skipping the slow burn and confusion that comes with starting a new relationship. The outro of the track mimics a woman with the staccato picking of an electric guitar followed by the long bass notes that pose as a man responding to her at the end and giving her what she wants.  

Something Inbetween

This track begins with a faint kick and lyrics that describe a list of rules people have for a breakup. She wants to stay composed and classy. She knows that things are typically too good to be true and she needs to be very secure before she believes in a relationship. At the start of the chorus it is clear that she felt a bit smothered by a certain aspect of a past relationship. She does not want to be owned by anyone, she wants to be free. But still, she is still craving a bit of something but not exactly “All or nothing.” She feels no shame in the fact that she still wants physical connection and to feel good from someone that may not be “the one.” The last chorus has a beautiful blend of harmonic voices and an electric guitar note ringing through that shows she is confident in what she wants right now. 

Loud

The flamingo style finger picking that this track opens up with sets us up to hear a story. She describes a relationship that faded out because a love grew fainter through time. She claims that she never asked for something but this person pushed into her life and made her care. She opens up with a resenting tone with screaming strings building up in the background. She shows her anger towards the relationship and accuses the person of giving love just to take it away and reveals that “the silence is so loud” implying that even after everything, he never explained or apologized. We flash back to a time where she felt close to this person but admits regret in never starting out as friends. The build up and repetition of the line “The silence is so loud” emphasizes the entire process in which this entire situation created a whole build up of emotion for her in which this person just ran away without an ounce of an explanation. I also want to note the similar tones and feeling in this track to the song “Skyfall” by Adele. They have the same action movie dramatic feel. Two very powerful voices with tons of soul. Very cool.

Baby Steps 

This track starts off in a soulful way and the lyrics are geared towards a few metaphorical statements that target physical things. Mentioning the rear view of a car, a dead phone, and texting “safe flight” make this context of the end of a relationship a relatable one. The choruses are simple yet encouraging to anyone who is trying to take it slow after losing someone they love. She makes it clear that she will be looking out for herself but not letting it get to her in negative ways. She will keep things around that make her happy and let the light in. The refusal to let herself fall behind in life is inspiring to say the least. 

A Couple Minutes 

A symphony of an orchestra brings an at first classy feel to this song but immediately turns into a questioning tone of not really knowing someone anymore. It really encapsulates the feelings of going from 100 to 0 and not knowing where a person is at now. The line “Back on your sofa” takes us into a scene where the two people are meeting up again to catch up again and it feels almost like routine just how it used to be. Followed by “Only have a couple minutes, guess we’re going back to real life” tells us it is not the reunion that exes sometimes hope for. It more feels like a small run in where both people are not interested in coming fully back together. Saying “Although it’s over/I’ll always be there” gives a small hint that the two people can have a chance at acquaintances or even friendship.

I’ve Seen It 

A slow picking pattern takes us into a delicate reflection. Olivia begins to describe different types of love and where she sees it most and the small places she sees it bloom. The simplicity and detail of this song really are beautiful to the ear. It demonstrates a maturity and understanding that love does not always come right away and there are tons of different shapes and sizes it comes in. The tone of hopefulness and gratitude towards it sends a message that we need to catch it and appreciate its different forms. Specifically saying that she has seen it in “Eleanore, Rosie, and Louise” is an acknowledgement to me that love is not always sexual, but there can be romance and love platonically in friends. Saying that her “mum and dad, they got me hooked” can mean two things to me. Meaning that she finds the love that they give to her to be a pure form as much as the love and respect that they have for one another. She is appreciative of the different forms and does something clever when describing it all as a “fairytale.” She is recognizing all types of love and not only just classic forms and that is a maturity that most people fail to have. The most special part of this song to me is that it has very similar qualities to the song “Just the Two of Us” by Bill Withers. Using similar tones and melodies to this song inflicts a feeling of nostalgia and sentiment in people and makes them believe that the creative and artistic mind of Olivia Dean is here to stay.