The Art of Loving (album)

The Art of Loving
Studio album by
Olivia Dean
Released26 September 2025
Genre
Length34:23
Label
Producer
Olivia Dean chronology
Messy
(2023) 		The Art of Loving
(2025)
Singles from The Art of Loving
  1. "Nice to Each Other"
    Released: 30 May 2025
  2. "Lady Lady"
    Released: 11 July 2025
  3. "Man I Need"
    Released: 15 August 2025
  4. "So Easy (To Fall in Love)"
    Released: 26 September 2025

The Art of Loving is the second studio album by English singer Olivia Dean. It was released on 26 September 2025 through Capitol Records and Polydor Records. A pop and R&B record, it features production from Dean, Julian Bunetta, Matt Hales, Bastian Langebæk, Leon Michels, Zach Nahome, John Ryan, Max Wolfgang, and Matt Zara. It was supported by the singles, "Nice to Each Other", "Lady Lady", and "Man I Need", and the concurrent release of "So Easy (To Fall in Love)".

Upon its release, The Art of Loving received acclaim from music critics, many of whom described it as an evolution for Dean and praised her performance. Commercially, the album had an international success, debuting at number one in Australia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Scotland, within the top five in Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland, and within the top ten in Germany, Iceland, Norway, and Poland. Additionally, it was certified platinum in New Zealand and gold in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Background

In an interview with Paper, Dean shared that she had been "working really hard" on the album, expressing a desire to "sing for everybody" and be welcomed with "open arms" and "love", a gesture she described as a "vulnerable" act.[1] The result has been described as a "tender, intentional deep dive" into different forms of love, including "romantic, platonic, self, and everything in between".[2] The album has also been called "her most intimate work yet", showcasing the qualities her audience has come to admire.[3]

Dean announced The Art of Loving on 2 June 2025.[4] The album's release was preceded by several live performances, including joint appearances with Sabrina Carpenter and Sam Fender, as well as her own headlining North American tour.[5]

Composition

The Art of Loving is a pop and R&B record[6] that incorporates elements of pop and neo-soul.[7]

Songs

"So Easy (To Fall in Love)" is a bossa nova[8][6] and jazz pop song.[9] "Man I Need" is a pop, R&B, and gospel song.[10] "A Couple Minutes" is influenced by the Motown sound[8][11] and Clairo's album Charm.[12]

Promotion

Singles

The album's lead single, "Nice to Each Other", was released on 30 May 2025, and simultaneously announced the upcoming album.[13] The second single, "Lady Lady", was released on 11 July 2025.[14] The third single, "Man I Need", was released on 15 August 2025.[15] The fourth and final single, "So Easy (To Fall in Love)", was released on 26 September 2025, coinciding with the full album.[16]

Tour

Main article: The Art of Loving Live

The album will be supported by the The Art of Loving Live 2026 tour, which is set to commence on 23 April 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland, and conclude on 17 October 2026, in Auckland, New Zealand.[17]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.0/10[18]
Metacritic84/100[19]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[20]
Clash8/10[21]
DIY[22]
The Guardian[7]
The Independent[23]
The Line of Best Fit8/10[24]
NME[8]
Pitchfork6.9/10[6]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Skinny[25]

The Art of Loving received widespread critical acclaim upon release. According to the review aggregator Metacritic, The Art of Loving received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 84 out of 100 from 10 critic scores.[19] The review aggregator AnyDecentMusic? assigned the album a weighted average score of 8.0 out of 10 from 13 critic scores.[18]

Writing for Rolling Stone, Larisha Paul praised the record as a significant artistic step forward, highlighting "Man I Need" and "Let Alone the One You Love" as career-defining moments and comparing Dean's balladry to Amy Winehouse, Adele, and early Beyoncé.[9] Helen Brown of The Independent called it both "deep and breezy" and commended Dean's ability to "de-complicate and de-escalate romance with playful generosity."[23] Similarly positive, Rhea Hagiwara of The Skinny saw it as "a continuation and a step forward" from her debut Messy, with a new level of "maturity and authenticity".[25]

In The Guardian, Alexis Petridis credited Dean for shedding the "neo-soul clichés" of her debut in favour of 1970s Los Angeles-inspired pop and soft rock, while praising her understated vocals and diaristic lyrics.[7] Clash described it as "a quiet, meditative exploration of love," while noting occasional repetitiveness in its pacing. The review nonetheless praised Dean's voice as the centerpiece of the record and "crystalline, versatile and laced with warmth".[21] Andy Kellman of AllMusic called the album "a couple cuts above her promising debut."[20] Emma Way of DIY said the album "is all of these lessons; from the need for independence ('Man I Need') to the art of letting go ('Let Alone The One You Love'), Olivia manages to convey all wisely, without becoming preachy."[22] Adele Julia of The Line of Best Fit described Dean's performance as her "most compelling yet".[24] Hannah Mylrea of NME said the album "marks the next chapter in Dean's career, one as a popstar risen."[8]

Some criticism was more reserved. Pitchfork's Walden Green characterised Dean's voice as warm and engaging but suggested that parts of the record leaned too heavily on retro pastiche, particularly on "Close Up" and "Baby Steps".[6]

Year-end lists

Select year-end rankings for The Art of Loving
Publication/critic List Rank Ref.
Complex The 50 Best Albums of 2025 28 [26]
Entertainment Weekly The 10 Best Albums of 2025 8 [27]
Exclaim! The 50 Best Albums of 2025 12 [28]
NME The 25 Best Albums of 2025 18 [29]
OOR The 20 Best Albums of 2025 8 [30]
Rolling Stone The 100 Best Albums of 2025 19 [31]

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, The Art of Loving debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 52,366 album-equivalent units, marking Dean's first number-one album and the highest debut for a British female artist on the albums chart since Adele's 30 (2021).[32][33] "Man I Need", the album's third single, also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart the same week as The Art of Loving's debut, making Dean the first British solo female artist to top the albums and singles charts simultaneously since Adele in 2021 with 30 and "Easy on Me".[33] On 24 October 2025, four weeks after the album's release, The Art of Loving was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of 100,000 album-equivalent units.[34] The Art of Loving has sold 237,570 equivalent units in the UK as of 12 December 2025 [35]

In the United States, The Art of Loving debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart with 43,000 album-equivalent units, of which 11,000 were pure album sales.[36] In its second week, the album rose to number seven, moving 35,000 units.[37] In its seventh week, the album rose again to a new peak position of number five with 41,000 units.[38] The Art of Loving was only the third album of 2025 to debut in the top ten of the Billboard 200 and reach a new peak in a subsequent week, following Bad Bunny's Debí Tirar Más Fotos and the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack.[39]

Track listing

The Art of Loving track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Art of Loving (Intro)"
0:40
2."Nice to Each Other"
Nahome3:29
3."Lady Lady"
  • Nahome
  • Hales
  • Michels
  • Wolfgang[v]
3:29
4."Close Up"
  • Dean
  • Langebæk
  • Wolfgang
3:15
5."So Easy (To Fall in Love)"
  • Nahome
  • Ryan
  • Bunetta
  • Allen[a]
  • Wolfgang[v]
2:49
6."Let Alone the One You Love"
  • Dean
  • Langebæk
  • Deschanel Gordon
  • Wolfgang
  • Nahome
  • Ryan
  • Bunetta
  • Wolfgang[v]
3:06
7."Man I Need"
Nahome3:04
8."Something Inbetween"
  • Nahome
  • Wolfgang[v]
2:32
9."Loud"
  • Dean
  • Langebæk
  • Wolfgang
  • Langebæk
  • Wolfgang
  • Nahome[a]
  • Danvers[s]
3:04
10."Baby Steps"
  • Dean
  • Langebæk
  • Wolfgang
3:17
11."A Couple Minutes"
  • Nahome
  • Danvers[s]
3:32
12."I've Seen It"
  • Dean
  • Langebæk
  • Wolfgang
  • Nahome
  • Langebæk
  • Wolfgang
2:06
Total length:34:23

Notes

  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer.
  • ^[v] signifies a vocal producer.
  • ^[s] signifies a strings producer.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[40]

Musicians

  • Olivia Dean – vocals (all tracks), background vocals (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11), piano (2, 5, 7, 8), keyboards (3, 7), synthesiser (7)
  • Zach Nahome – programming (1, 6), synthesizer effects (1, 10, 12), bass (2, 7), drum programming (2), electric guitar (2, 7), lap steel guitar (2), drums (3, 4, 7, 8, 11), percussion (3, 7), synthesizer (7, 8), guitar (10), rhythm programming (11)
  • Bastian Langebæk – piano (1, 4), background vocals (4, 10); drum programming, organ, Rhodes, Wurlitzer electronic piano (10); synthesiser (12)
  • Rosie Danvers – string arrangement (1, 9, 11)
  • Wired Strings[a] – strings (1, 9, 11)
  • Finn Zeferino-Birchall – bass (2–4, 6, 8), background vocals (2, 4, 6)
  • Deschanel Gordon – background vocals (2, 4, 6), keyboards (2, 4), piano (2, 6), keyboard arrangement (6), Wurlitzer electronic piano (6)
  • Daniel Rogerson – background vocals (2, 4, 6); acoustic guitar, electric guitar (2, 4); guitar (6, 8)
  • Joel Waters – background vocals (2, 4, 6), percussion (2), congas (4), tambourine (6)
  • Jermaine Amissah – saxophone (3, 4, 6)
  • Joe Bristow – trombone (3, 4, 6)
  • Jack Banjo Courtney – trumpet (3, 4, 6)
  • Leon Michels – acoustic guitar, bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion (3)
  • Homer Steinweiss – drums (3)
  • Matt Hales – keyboards, percussion, synthesiser (3)
  • John Ryan – programming (4–6); bass, guitar, horn, piano (5)
  • Julian Bunetta – drums (4, 5), programming (4, 6), bass (4)
  • Matt Zara – programming (4, 6); bass, drums, guitar, piano (4); percussion (6)
  • Max Wolfgang – background vocals, organ (4, 10); bass (9, 10), piano (9); electric guitar, percussion (10); guitar, synthesiser (12)
  • Mark Rudin – horn (5)
  • Eric Hagstrom – drums (6)
  • Ollie Clark – guitar (9)
  • Michael Stafford – background vocals (11)

Technical

  • Charlie Holmes – mixing
  • Simon Francis – mastering
  • Jan Trafas – engineering (2, 3), engineering assistance (4, 8)
  • Dan Ewins – engineering (2)
  • Austin Christy – engineering (3)
  • Jeff Gunnell – engineering (4–6)
  • Zach Nahome – engineering (4, 6–8, 10, 11)
  • John Ryan – engineering (5)
  • Max Wolfgang – engineering (6)
  • Nick Taylor – strings engineering (1, 9, 11)
  • Adele Philips – engineering assistance (2)

Charts

Certifications

Certifications
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[70] Gold 35,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[71] Gold 40,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[72] Platinum 15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Gold 100,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats
Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Various 26 September 2025
[73]

Note

  1. ^ Wired Strings consists of violinists Charis Jenson, Hayley Pomfrett, Jenny Sacha, Kerenza Peacock, Michael Trainor, Patrick Kiernan, Sarah Sexton, and Zahra Benyounes; violists Emma Owens and Meghan Cassidy; and cellists Rosie Danvers and Bryony James.

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