Olivia Dean might describe herself as a perfectionist, but there’s something undone about the North London singer-songwriter’s sound. Inflected with jazz, soul, R&B and pop and an old-soul spirit, her music often feels like it was made (and made to be listened to) on a warm afternoon, as Dean basks in her city and watches its people pass by. A “classic Olivia Dean song”, as she told Apple Music at the time of her 2023 Mercury Prize-shortlisted debut album Messy’s release, is about how “I will fall in love with you, but not quite”. That sentiment propels songs such as “Danger”, “UFO” and 2021’s sublime “Slowly”, her most heart-stopping exploration of being scared to fall too hard and get too hurt in the process. But there are other classic Dean moves, too. Because sometimes she throws caution to the wind and jumps right in (see “Dive”) or goes it alone (“Be My Own Boyfriend”, which features her reliably sharp, conversational lyricism, and “The Hardest Part”, a wise exploration of outgrowing someone). In her most special moments, the singer-songwriter paints songs so vivid it feels like you could watch them on a screen. See “I Could Be a Florist”, a window into her Plan B of running a flower shop in Peckham, and the jubilant “Carmen”, on which she pays tribute to her grandmother who came over to the UK as part of the Windrush generation in the ’60s. Explore more sounds from a special, singular talent here.