"The Art of Loving": https://open.spotify.com/album/0l8zYqoUeBYg47Gmevq9HZ?si=H9HSotxLS0-VQPyOK4R97w

She should be gigantic in the U.S. Maybe the biggest star in the land. Because, like Adele, she appeals to all demos, all ages, but how do you penetrate the marketplace these days?

Now I've been tracking the single, and right now "Man I Need" is number 5 in the Spotify Top 50. But there's no attendant press. Then again, the young audience, which drives the Spotify Top 50, must be aware of it.

But Dean has been a star in the U.K. for years. Why there and not here?

Well, the industry is more concentrated there, such that it's easier to get noticed. And the expectations are higher. In the U.S. the labels have disconnected from the public, they're busy serving the niches that have already expressed support for an act, but starting from scratch...they're not up for that.

Now another reason Olivia Dean's music is so good is because she attended the famous BRIT school. There's magic in that water, the same way there is in the water in the music schools of Sweden. But here in the U.S? Everybody comes from the outside trying to make it in, the concept of releasing something mainstream and having it flower...

This is not Taylor Swift. Olivia Dean's music is closer to that of Sade's.

This is not the kind of music the punks will like, then again, when no one is paying attention...

Not only does Olivia Dean have a good voice, the songs...are such. There are changes, melodies, you can sing along with them as opposed to much of the rhythm dominated stuff in the U.S.

Remember when you used to put on an album on a Sunday afternoon? Or at a dinner party? That's Olivia Dean's "The Art of Loving." Yet it's not background music, but more like grease, a mood-setter, the antidote to today's fractured political world.

But we haven't had this sound here in the States for so long...

Now, if you want to criticize Dean, you can... Are the songs just a bit too basic, a bit too mellow, is she shooting high enough? We can debate that, but right now she owns the field, she's blazing a trail alone, which is why so many are missing it... The music doesn't have the jagged edges that work on social media, the lyrics are not perfect for lip--synching...if anything this music is a cry back to what once was...and it doesn't sound cheap, like it was made in somebody's bedroom, it sounds big and professional, not that it compromises.

And it's hiding in plain sight.

Now Dean is going to be the musical guest on SNL on November 15th, and that might get the ball truly rolling, generate the necessary heat, then again the paradigm has completely shifted, it's not about watching SNL in real time, but viewing the clips on social media thereafter, and musical performances don't translate/work that way. Which is another reason that musical performances on the rest of the television outlets don't move the needle.

Then again, when an act is on SNL, there's attendant publicity. The media industrial complex takes notice and promotes. They know there's a commitment, they don't want to publicize anything that has no push, no team behind it.

But really, people just have to hear Olivia Dean's music. How do you accomplish that in today's world?

Well, if the label were truly innovative... They'd get it played in coffee shops, at retail...so people will hear it and say WHAT'S THIS?

Because in a pull world, where people only listen to what they want to, they may not come across this, but if it's pushed upon them...

Once again, the American music business is not prepared for someone like Olivia Dean, who leads with her music as opposed to her identity/personality, antics and a well-documented backstory. With most acts today it's the penumbra that is promoted, the music takes a back seat. But even that might not get you to listen to the music. Has there been a better recent publicity campaign than the one for Lily Allen's new album? An act that never really broke through in America... Is anybody going to read about Allen and then stream her music...I doubt it.

Everything happens slower than ever before. And if for some reason if it happens quickly, it dies nearly as fast.

A year from now will everybody be aware of Olivia Dean? I think there's a good chance so.

This is what the music business needs, has needed for years. A music first artist, that is not a train-wreck. "The Art of Loving" hangs together, you want to play the whole thing through.

To tell you the truth, the work track that is now number 5 in the U.S., "Man I Need," is far from my favorite. It's upbeat and jaunty and therefore comes across as lightweight, but the previous single in the U.K., "Nice to Each Other"...you should get it on the first listen. As for the new single, "A Couple Minutes," that's a winner too.

"Nice to Each Other" is what we're looking for, not something mindless that bangs us over the head, but something that sneaks up on us, taps us on the shoulder gently.

I don't want to oversell Olivia Dean, but no one else seems to be selling her, so I'm hipping you to her, she definitely deserves your notice.


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