Qobuzissime

She’s only 24 but already has all the makings of a great soul singer. A warm, deep voice that modulates and sways with agility, raw talent and disarming natural charisma make her a magnetic artist, one we literally melt for, and one we’ll be rushing to see in small, subdued jazz clubs or under the sun of the big stages at summer festivals. With four EPs packed with tracks cut like singles (Cross My Mind, Be My Own Boyfriend, Slowly, What I’m Gonna Do On Sundays?), released by the small British independent label AMF Records between 2019 and 2021, Olivia Dean has very quickly caught the ear of EMI’s biggest label.

Other artists began to catch onto the power of Olivia Dean’s power. Rudimental were the first. Back in 2017, the drum’n’bass outfit invited her - Olivia was only 18 at the time - to replace Emeli Sandé live on the more dance-oriented Free, then she returned two years later to join them on Adrenaline, which closed their latest album Toast to Our Differences. On her debut EP, OK I Love You Bye, she moved away from this more soulful, R&B sound with four tracks.

She was one of the young talents selected for the 2021 edition of the Boiler Room festival, followed by the Arte Concert festival the following year. But her more jazzy path became even clearer when the legendary Jazz Café in London invited her to perform a short concert, filmed and recorded, where she sang with an extended band (trumpet, saxophone and trombone), giving her songs greater scope.

With Messy, Olivia, who grew up in Haringey, North London, has established a clear DNA. She opts for a mix of classy R&B tinged with jazz, polished with brass, and soul, influenced by Amy Winehouse, Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. With 12 tracks and 35 minutes that go by all too quickly, she slaloms with ease between sober piano-vocal ballads that sing of the break-up of love or advocate emancipation (Be Me Own Boyfriend), and soaring pop gems that stay in the head, such as Dive. In this rich landscape of British soul, she may well be compared to her compatriots Joy Crookes and Jorja Smith, but the young singer is already making her mark. A diva in the making, she’ll soon be everywhere, for a long time to come. Qobuzissime!