As a dad to a sixteen-year-old daughter, I’m starting to catch on to what girls are listening to. The last couple of years, I’ve done the rounds of gigs, attending events with the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Rae, Mimi Webb, Freya Ridings and Caity Baser.

By Miles Salter

Feature photo by Raminta Ceponyte

Tonight, in Leeds, it’s time for another young songstress, Olivia Dean. Dean’s brand of pop is smooth urban soul. She’s got elements of Sade, Raye, perhaps Amy Winehouse (although her catalogue is a good deal happier than poor Amy’s.)   

Backed by a seven-piece male band, she’s a young woman who has success, good looks and talent. The audience in Leeds certainly laps it up, and it’s not just students here; there are older music fans, too. It’s a punchy one-hour set (was there a student night happening afterwards? The venue is at the heart of Leeds University). Olivia looks great (that hair!) and her voice is fantastic – smooth, powerful, note perfect. 

The set majors on songs from the album Messy, including  The Hardest Part, a song about outgrowing a lover, and the gorgeous, brief I Could Be A Florist. Dean’s voice has an intimacy to it that is beguiling, and makes her stand out from other singer-songwriters. 

Her set starts at 8pm and by 9.15pm it’s all over. She ends with the wonderful Dive, a near-perfect pop song that captures the giddy fever of falling in love. In two months from now she’ll be on the pyramid stage at Glastonbury. Last year she told Jo Whiley her ambition is to headline the legendary festival. She may need some more killer tunes like Dive to fulfil that goal, but with so much soul and the ability to put it into the songs, I would not bet against her. 

Olivia Dean played at Stylus, Leeds on 26 April 2024.

Miles Salter is a writer and musician based in York. He is co-presenter of the York Calling podcast and fronts the band Miles and The Chain Gang.