‘Rare beauty’ – The Times
‘Her voice has a remarkable clarity and purity, a lyrical and emotional strength that puts her up among the best’ – The Arts Desk
2026 Artist in Residence at Kings Place, London.
‘Dark Eyed Sailor’ featured in the new Hollywood adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
Olivia Chaney is one of the UK’s most original voices—a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose music slips effortlessly between folk traditions, classical influence, and contemporary songwriting. Born in Florence to a writer and painter-turned-academic, she grew up with Prince, Joni Mitchell, and Henry Purcell on rotation—a sonic palette that still shapes her fearless, genre-blurring approach.
After learning her craft at Chetham’s School of Music and the Royal Academy, Chaney emerged on the international scene with showcases at SXSW and as lead singer for electronica pioneers Zero 7. A deal with Nonesuch followed, leading to high-profile collaborations with Kronos Quartet and The Decemberists, whose joint project Offa Rex earned her a Grammy nomination. She has since appeared at Glastonbury, the BBC Proms, London’s Meltdown Festival, Later…with Jools Holland, and sung at Nick Drake’s induction into the BBC Folk Awards Hall of Fame. Her debut solo album The Longest River, produced by Leo Abrahams (Brian Eno, Regina Spektor, Paul Simon) was hailed for its luminous blend of intimacy and sophistication. Its follow-up, Shelter, recorded in New York with Thomas Bartlett (Sufjan Stevens, Rufus Wainright, Florence & The Machine), cemented her reputation as a writer and arranger unafraid to wrestle with inherited trauma, the friction between tradition and modernity, and the paradoxes of love.
In 2024, Olivia returned to her DIY roots with Circus of Desire, a self-released third album featuring Sam Amidon and Nico Muhly, once again produced by Bartlett. Her fourth record, due in 2026, pushes further still: a bold and personal reimagining of Henry Purcell’s songs, reframing the English baroque master as a radical songwriter whose music still speaks with urgency today. Now based in Yorkshire after two decades in London, Olivia draws inspiration from the remote landscape of the moors where she wrote Shelter. With a young family and a renewed energy for live performance, she continues to carve out a singular path—an artist at the height of her powers, making music that feels both timeless and defiantly of the moment.
