Since giving a remarkable performance at Glastonbury this year, singer-songwriter Olivia Dean has finally released her debut album ‘Messy‘ taking us on a journey to discovering her true self inside the themes of life, relationships and family.
Expecting an album since the popular release of 2020 single, ‘The Hardest Part‘, the 24-year-old singer decided to wait until her time was ready to give a successful album to her fans, and with her new music unveiled, it has spread fast from The Guardian to The Rolling Stone speaking about it.
Consisting of soulful pop, co-written with Matt Hales, ‘Messy‘ explores the artist on a self-discovery where she sings about the highs and lows inside a relationship and experiences the pain from a breakup to expressing life stories.
Introducing the album, in ‘UFO‘, Olivia explains how there isn’t any road map to living life, it is a rollercoaster filled with twists and turns, and sometimes you have no GPS to where you are going, and this is why she sings about trying to fly a UFO and having no idea how to fly it. The acoustic-led track shows us that it is okay to not know where you are going, and everyone can experience this many times in life.
In the first section of the album, it describes the positives of a relationship; whether it is returning to someone you love or meeting someone new, you jump straight into it, and you are head over heels. Tracks such as ‘Dive‘ and ‘Danger‘ remind us that we continue to be brave in love, even if they are toxic or good for us.
With Olivia’s deep and distinct vocals, the 12 tracks are surrounded with passion and emotion, describing the toxicities of being in love with someone you shouldn’t be, Olivia finds herself re-discovering herself as a new individual within these past relationships, going through the feelings of pain, hurt and recognition inside ‘The Hardest Part‘ and ‘Messy‘.
While reflecting on the lessons of love, the pop sensation still looks at the brighter side of life, singing about the simple things that cannot shake your happiness. In ‘I Could Be a Florist‘, Olivia exquisitely sings “Oh, I can give you flowers/At the end of every day/For the centre of your table/A rainbow/In case, you’ll Have people ’round to stay.“
Altogether the album is a list of twelve sensational, moving tracks which would be recommended to all.