All that jazz: meet the hottest talent in town

Before releasing an album, singer Olivia Dean has sold out a European tour and even become a Chanel ambassador. Isobel Van Dyke meets her

- Isobel Van Dyke

OIVIA Dean is in her 'cheeky era'. The mischievous, highly infectious cackle that punctuates our interview proves it. "I think people often perceive me as quite stoic because my music has been very earnest in the past, but I'm a fun-loving girl, I'm super silly," she says.

We meet at an Italian restaurant just off Old Street roundabout and make small talk about the endlessly infuriating roadworks. She doesn't wear make-up, her hair is pulled back into a bun and a woolly, lime gilet shrouds her petite frame. Delicate gold hoops swing from her ears as she chomps down on a bowl of rigatoni pasta. She's one of those people who makes minimal effort but still looks annoyingly cool. Even the way she waves her fork around as she speaks is cool.

Her recent surge of cheeky energy could also be down to a build-up of excitement. This week, she kicked-off the first leg of her sold-out European tour and next week she plays her first London headline gig at KOKO in Camden. "I only put out one song last year so I really wasn't expecting KOKO to sell out in one minute. I'm like 'guys, what do you expect me to be doing on the stage?"" she laughs, grinning so widely that four diamond tooth gems flash at me. Her music jumps between devastating heartbreak ballads and singalong self-love anthems. It allows you to wallow in your post-break-up melancholia but also has the power to pull you out of it and onto better things. Due to her popularity with Londoners and such high demand at KOKO, she decided to add an extra date in the capital, this time at Camden's Roundhouse - which sold out just as quickly.