BAEWATCH: Olivia Dean
For Hypebae's newest instalment of BAEwatch, I caught up with the British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean to discuss the release of her debut album
Despite her calm, cool and collected exterior and silky smooth vocals, Olivia Dean is not afraid to say she’s messy. She doesn’t have her sh-t together, and she’s open about it. “The truth is,” she offers, “In an age where everybody’s pretending to be kind of perfect online and stuff, it’s quite refreshing to be the opposite.”
Following the release of her first EP in 2021, titled Growth, Dean struggled to offer “proof” of the gains and improvements she’d achieved. Instead, she settled for something different altogether: the truth. Now, her debut album is all about embracing exactly where you’re at in life, even if it’s not where you thought you’d be. Alongside that acceptance, she explores the idea of letting yourself be loved by others – something which, admittedly, doesn’t come naturally to the fiercely independent artist.
As she celebrates the release of her debut album, Messy, we spent an afternoon together at The Standard Hotel in London to find out more about her process, her inspiration and why she just wants her fans to have fun. At the end of the day, “It’s not that deep,” she tells us, laughing and smiling.
Last time we caught up, you were gearing up for the release of Growth — which explored vulnerability and learning to love yourself. What’s changed for you since then?
I feel like I’ve become a different person since then. I’m not gonna say I’ve mastered it, because that’s actually a big fat lie, but I think I’ve gotten really good at loving myself. I think this record is exploring the idea of letting yourself be loved by other people, which is something that I find quite hard because I’m quite an independent person and a bit of a tough cookie. Like, I don’t need you. But actually, I’m learning it’s okay to let yourself be loved by someone and also then giving it back. That’s where I’m at right now. Yeah, it’s been a journey
The new album is called Messy – aside from learning to accept love, what can you tell us about the inspiration behind it?
I didn’t know what the album was gonna be called for a really long time. And I felt like I kind of set myself up a bit by calling the last project Growth because I was like, “Okay, well, now my debut album has to be about what I’ve grown into.” And then I was like, “What have I grown into? What am I?” and that sort of really held me back for a bit because I felt like I needed to present this finished thing and it was going to be so defining.
Then I realized that all I could actually do was write about how I’m feeling and where I am right now. And honestly? That is kind of a mess. I’m trying to flip it from being a negative word and make it positive. In an age where everybody’s pretending to be kind of perfect online and stuff, it’s quite refreshing to be the opposite. I’m kind of messy. My room is messy.
I saw an exhibition quite early on in the album-making process called “Life Between Islands” at the Tate and it was celebrating all the art that was made in the cross culture between when people came home from the Windrush, and I felt so seen in that exhibition. I remember thinking “That’s me, like, I’m kind of like a mix of two things” and I felt quite insecure about that for a long time. Now I’m like, “Nah, it’s cool to be like, a mess of things.” Those are the surrounding themes of the album but mostly, I was just like, “Don’t overthink it, call it messy.” With the music as well, it’s not one specific genre; it really ebbs and flows, because I like to learn different kinds of music. I was like, I’m not going to make a Motown record or just ballads, I want to make loads of stuff. So if I call it messy, no one can say that my album’s a mess. I’ve already claimed that for myself.
PHOTOGRAPHER: HANA ZEBZABI
LOCATION: THE STANDARD
PRODUCER: NAVI AHLUWALIA
STYLIST: SIMONE BEYENE
INTERVIEWER: NAVI AHLUWALIA
For the full interview, head to: https://hypebae.com/2023/7/baewatch-olivia-dean-messy-album-photoshoot-interview
