Olivia Dean

Olivia Dean possesses a graceful vocal style and a warm, easygoing approach to soul-pop that has positioned her as a sought-after collaborator while also building a solo career fueled by millions of streams. After teaming with the electronic group Rudimental for a featured appearance on their 2018 track "Adrenaline," she issued her debut EP, Ok Love You Bye, in 2019. Major labels took notice ahead of her next release, the 2020 EP What Am I Gonna Do on Sundays?, paving the way for her relaxed full-length debut, Messy, in 2023.

Raised in Walthamstow after being born in Haringey, North London, Olivia Lauryn Dean first drew wider attention when Rudimental asked the then-18-year-old to fill in for Emeli Sandé during a 2017 festival performance of their song "Free." The following year she became a credited vocalist on the group's "Adrenaline" and also put out her own single "Reason to Stay," which highlighted her relaxed, jazz-inflected take on adult contemporary soul.

AMF Music released her debut EP, Ok Love You Bye, in late 2019, featuring tracks such as "Reason to Stay" and the multi-million-streaming title song. EMI joined to co-issue the follow-up EP What Am I Gonna Do on Sundays? in late 2020, which included the similarly popular single "The Hardest Part." Her third EP, Growth, arrived in July 2021 via AMF/EMI and carried a more sophisticated, yearning tone, while she closed the year with a warm orchestral rendition of "The Christmas Song."

Within months Dean returned with live and acoustic material alongside studio singles like the funk-infused "Danger." In 2023 she unveiled the spare, vocal-effects-washed "UFO" and the buoyant soul track "Dive." A Leon Bridges-assisted version of "The Hardest Part" surfaced that June, just weeks before her full-length debut Messy, which opened with the pairing of "UFO" and "Dive." Production credits on the album included Aqualung's Matt Hales, Tre Jean-Marie, and earlier collaborators Max Wolfgang and Bastian Langebaek.