Olivia Dean could easily have stayed in one lane for her debut album, “Messy.” She has been on a glide path to a career in smooth English pop-soul. Dean, 24, has been releasing songs since 2018 — long enough to make her first album feel like a turning point instead of an introduction. She was born in London — to a Guyanese-Jamaican mother and an English father — and soaked up music from her father’s album collection. And like Amy Winehouse, Adele, Leona Lewis, Raye, Jessie J and Imogen Heap, Dean showed enough youthful talent to attend the star-making BRIT School of performing arts. Like other newcomers, Dean gained attention for a featured vocal with an electronic act, performing “Adrenaline” with Rudimental in 2019.

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Persons: Olivia Dean, Dean, she’s, —, Lauryn Hill, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Leona Lewis, Raye, Jessie J, Imogen Heap, Elton John — Organizations: Guyanese, BRIT School Locations: London, Rudimental, Glastonbury