You can hear the relief the moment she asks for what she wants. Olivia Dean’s Man I Need opens like a straight look in the eye, a dance-floor tempo holding steady while she spells out the terms of care.
It arrives as the third preview from her second album The Art of Loving, out September 26, 2025, and it lands with a simple claim: know the love you deserve, ask for it, move your feet while you do.
Released August 15, 2025 on Capitol, Man I Need is presented exactly as Dean frames it: a request said clearly.
Her own line says it best, “a song about knowing how you deserve to be loved and not being afraid to ask for it,” made “for dancing.”
Her words set the compass, and the groove follows through.
What greets you first is colour. An organ bed ushers the track in with a gospel tint, then a quick, bright groove takes the floor.
The feel nods to the pop-soul sparkle of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” only a little slower and voiced in Dean’s softer grain.
It reads like a love letter to that era without slipping into costume, classy and feel-good, the kind of cut that lifts the room without crowding it.
Talk to me is the pivot. The phrase loops like a gentle tap on the shoulder, a boundary stated as an invitation.
Every repeat tightens the frame while the rhythm section keeps the air in the arrangement.
Our favourite line, ‘Looks like we’re making up for lost time / Need you to spell it out for me / Bossa nova on all night / It’s like a type of alchemy,’ captures the mood in one sweep: desire stated clearly, groove turned to a little magic.
There is no puzzle to solve here. The meaning is plain, and that is part of its pull.
Written by Olivia Dean, Tobias Jesso Jr., and Zach Nahome. Produced by Zach Nahome. Mixed by Charlie Holmes. Mastered by Simon Francis.
The video keeps the story simple. Directed by Jake Erland, it plays out on a studio lot with Dean at centre while different possible matches drift through the set.
Scenes reset around her, the set dressing rotates, and the camera never loses her. The staging is playful and direct, a visual echo of the lyric’s ask.
The organs do the ushering, the beat sets a steady pace, and the vocal carries the line with a calm that lands in the chest.
It is a modern pop-soul single that still feels built for a real dance floor, warm and bright, never loud for the sake of it.
If the album is called The Art of Loving, this track sketches the part many avoid: asking clearly and letting joy be part of the request.
When you hear her say “talk to me,” what do you picture in that space she leaves open?
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Olivia Dean’s Man I Need Lyrics
Intro
Talk to me, talk to me
Talk to me, talk to me
Hm
Verse 1
Looks like we’re making up for lost time
Need you to spell it out for me
Bossa nova on all night
It’s like a type of alchemy
Introduce me to your best friend
I can come and slot right in
A satellite ain’t even that far
I, I kinda wonder where you are
Pre-Chorus
Already know I can’t leave it alone
You’re on my mind, mm
Already gave you the time and the place
So, don’t be shy
Chorus
Just come be the man I need
Tell me you got something to give, I want it
I kinda like it when you call me wonderful
Whatever the type of talk it is, come on then
I gotta know you’re meant to be the man I need
Talk to me
Talk to me
Post-Chorus
Mm, talk to me, talk to me
Be the man that I need, baby
Talk to me, talk to me
Be the man that I need, need, need
Mm, talk to me, talk to me
Be the man that I need, baby
Talk to me, talk to me
Be the man, man, man, man, man
Verse 2
I’d like to think you feel the same way
But I can’t tell with you sometimes
So, baby, let’s get on the same page
Stop making me read between the lines
Pre-Chorus
Already know I can’t leave it alone
You’re on my mind, mm
Already gave you the time and the place
So, don’t be shy
Chorus
Just come be the man I need
Tell me you got something to give, I want it
I kinda like it when you call me wonderful
Whatever the type of talk it is, come on then
I gotta know you’re meant to be the man I need
Talk to me, talk to me
Talk to me, talk to me
Post-Chorus
Mm, talk to me, talk to me
Be the man that I need, baby (Be the man)
Talk to me, talk to me
Be the man that I need, need, need
Mm, talk to me, talk to me
Be the man that I need, baby (Be the man)
Talk to me, talk to me
Be the man, man, man, man, man
Outro
Mm
Mm-mm, mm-mm, mm
Mm-mm, mm
Mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm, mm