‘Messy’ has the intoxicating promise of a summer’s evening. Olivia Dean’s debut album lives in a state of suspended animation, enthusiastic about what lies ahead while fully living in and absorbing the moment: she sings of romantic and familial relationships with a gentle touch, as though she’s contemplating her thoughts while standing beneath a beam of sunlight.
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The matter of hope is central to ‘Messy’, a light, nimble and fresh-faced collection of sprawling soul-pop tunes that illustrate the importance of perseverance amid personal upheaval. In 2021, Dean, a 24-year-old songwriter from north London, finally caught her break with her ‘Growth’ EP. The five-track effort was a runaway success; after racking up streaming numbers in the millions, the BRIT School graduate would go on to perform at Glastonbury, tour with Loyle Carner and collaborate with soul superstar Leon Bridges.
What makes Dean markedly different from her peers, however, is that she has the confidence to occasionally dissect subjects that others swerve, all while appealing to a mainstream audience. Album standout ‘Carmen’ simultaneously works as a love letter to her Guyana-born grandmother, as well as shining a light on the hardship that was caused to those affected by the Windrush scandal. She continues to prove that there’s more to her writing than optimism; ‘Messy’ gives her space to examine her own frustrations: “Why can’t you be better for me?”, she pleads with an ex on ‘No Man’.
Elsewhere, the album is cozy and vibrant throughout, but really peaks when it gets fuller, weirder, and more unpredictable. Nearly everything revolves around Dean’s deep, tender voice, which skips and twirls through stories of love pursued and lost. ‘UFO’ sees her sing through a vocoder, and the effect is serene. Marching percussion adds texture to ‘Ladies Room’, while the title track’s spacey production is purposefully meandering, encouraging the listener to get lost in Dean’s stream of consciousness. “Never really known the right shape to be,” she sings, pondering the anxieties that accompany tentative new beginnings.
The fullness of Dean’s musical vision vibrates in these gorgeously crafted moments, making the stumbles feel like mere blips: notably, ‘Everybody’s Crazy’ relies too heavily on clichés surrounding how confusing it is to be alive. Dean may have not shed all of her growing pains, but ‘Messy’ ultimately does everything a debut should, uniting multiple stories with a clear, radiant voice.
Details
- Release date: June 30
- Record label: All My Friends/EMI Records