The Warmth That I Needed

Olivia Dean “Let Alone the One You Love”

Olivia Dean sold out four nights at Madison Square Garden this week, an extremely impressive feat for a singer who just recently played four shows there as the opening act for Sabrina Carpenter. It’s a real perspective-shifter – Dean is substantially more popular than she seemed, and the market for lovelorn classic-style R&B is clearly stronger than ever. (Also take note of Giveon’s show at MSG, and Cleo Sol selling out three nights at Radio City Music Hall.)

Dean has a lot of very good songs, but I figure a lot of her success comes down to how easily and effortlessly she fills a void in the pop landscape where Adele and Amy Winehouse used to be. Her music isn’t nearly as sexy, but I think she’s also tapping into some of Sade’s appeal as well. But it’s that distinctly British form of R&B classicism – elegant and immaculate, a little bit prim and mannered. If you nail this aesthetic in the right cultural moment, the sky’s the limit.

“Let Alone the One You Love” sounds like musical signifiers from many eras of R&B blurring together into something uncannily familiar and vaguely modern. It’s a ballad about romantic disappointment, of trying to come to terms with realizing the person you thought was “The One” was not who you made them out to be. It’s written like a negotiation with that person, who is simultaneously checked out but holding on. I like that twist on the narrative, and the way Dean has to navigate through such delicate emotions.

Buy it from Amazon.

Chinese American Bear “Magic Number (魔法数字)”

“Magic Number” has the vibe of an artsy-cute late 00s/early 10s indie song that got licensed to death, and you will know exactly what I mean by this as soon as you put this on. It sounds so much like it’s already been popular that I get a powerful deja vu sensation every time I hear it, like my brain is trying to Mandela Effect it into an iPod ad in 2008. I feel like maybe I’m being too glib and selling this band short, but this is what my brain is screaming every time I play this song, and I’m pretty sure in a more earnest sense this means Chinese American Bear hit their target in making it.

Buy it from Bandcamp.