Get Ready To Dive & Get Ready To Dance: Olivia Dean Plays Her First Canadian Show at Studio TD.
Shot by Sarah Evangelista
Written by Eva Lynch
November 7, 2023
Montreal, QC @ Le Studio TD
Sarah Evangelista
Like many, I fell in love with Olivia Dean’s music during the pandemic with her early EPs. and I vividly remember when she released the video and audio accompaniment of Live at the Jazz Cafe, which was one of her first shows following the end of lockdown, and being utterly entranced. She became a superstar without ever releasing an album, as the power of her voice and incredible soulfulness had people longing for more. Watching her on stage and hearing the power in her voice captivated me instantly and to finally get to finally see her live was incredibly special and was a show I’m not soon to forget.
To say Olivia Dean is right at home on stage is an understatement. She is effortlessly at ease and excited to be performing as she floats around the stage, singing ballads about what it means to get to know and love yourself. She has crafted a unique jazzy sound that will have you heartbroken one moment and laughing the next, as the playful and joyful nature of Dean herself is infectious and had the whole room smiling and dancing along.
Her mother was the the first black deputy leader of a political party in Europe, after having become the deputy leader of the Women’s Equality Party in June 2020, and instilled strong feminist views in Dean from a young age which are abound in her lyrics and the way she conducts herself in her music, telling stories of love that center on loving-yourself and prioritizing your own growth. The self-described hopeless romantic has the ability to capture everything you’re feeling in a three minute song, through catchy hooks and lulling melodies
which navigate the ups-and-downs of relationships and explore what it means to embrace everything you’re feeling no matter how hard, and how it makes you grow, each EP demonstrating her shifting mindset through the ages.
Sarah Evangelista
Her music has a deep sense of self-awareness and narrative lyricism, while retaining its pop quality and fun edge, and allows the music to resonate with so many of us. On stage, she is endlessly gracious and grounded, almost in disbelief at how far her music has reached yet the moment she starts to sing it’s clear how her stories have carried themselves. Her show at Studio TD marks her first show in Canada, having performed her first show in North America only a few months ago, and the venue was packed.
She is present and animated in a way that makes it clear that she is someone truly in their element, singing from the heart and dancing the whole time, as if second nature to her, and these soulful stories crafted themselves and were simply aching to be told. To have witnessed the journey of songs like ‘The Hardest Part’ from their earliest inception in 2020 to now being on her debut album, featuring the likes of Leon Bridgers, is a great pleasure. The growth and talent across her many projects since she first penned ‘What Am I Gonna Do On Sundays?’ as a teenager, shows her evolution not just vocally only but also in her vision; in the message and emotion she brings to her songwriting; in experimenting with new rhythms and most importantly in her overall confidence. Her 2023 debut album Messy was shortlisted for the Mercury prize earlier this year, coming off the back of being named Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Artist of 2021, and it shows the wide-spread love for her neo-soul experimentation, pop energy and the versatility she brings to every project which is grounded by her prevailing warm and rich tone.
Her show at TD Studio felt like a coming together of people who had all gone through similar experiences and heartbreaks and danced it all out. The night started strong, with her song ‘Echo’ and ‘Danger,’ setting the energy for the night, before leading into a quiet lull in the middle where she sang some of her more heartfelt and somber songs like my personal favourite ‘Slowly,’ before picking the energy right back up, bringing in the horns and spotlighting all of her band members. If you weren’t a fan already, go give Olivia Dean a listen and get ready to “Dive”!
