Australian-born adult alternative singer/songwriter Dean Lewis pens yearning, emotionally vulnerable tunes in the vein of contemporaries such as Jamie Lawson, Ed Sheeran, and Lewis Capaldi. Emerging in the late 2010s, he had his first taste of international success with the multi-platinum-selling, multi-billion-streaming single "Be Alright," which was included on his official full-length debut, 2019's A Place We Knew. Lewis began sharing new songs in 2021 in advance of his much-awaited sophomore album, which included "Hurtless," a searing portrayal of a relationship's end. The Hardest Love arrived in 2022, reaching number four in Australia and spawning the Billboard Top 40 single "How Do I Say Goodbye."

The Sydney-bred Lewis taught himself guitar growing up, playing along to his favorite Oasis songs and writing his own compositions, slowly amassing a small arsenal of original material. He remained largely outside the public eye for some time, quietly writing over 80 original songs before eventually releasing his first proper single, "Waves," in 2016. The song was a huge hit in Australia and was certified platinum within a year of its release. Lewis followed it with "Need You Now" in early 2017, and in May of that year issued a debut EP titled Same Kind of Different. The moody and evocative pop tones of the EP included "Waves" and "Need You Now," as well as four additional tracks in a similar dark yet melodic style.

The wistful single "Be Alright" appeared in 2018, with the nostalgic "7 Minutes" following in early 2019. "Be Alright" became an international hit, surpassing a billion streams by the time Lewis' debut album, A Place We Knew, arrived that March. The set reached number 31 on the Billboard 200 and took home the Album of the Year, Best Male Artist, and Song of the Year awards at the 2019 ARIAs.

In 2021, he issued the inward-looking "Falling Up" and the pulsating "Looks Like Me," the latter of which served as the lead single from his forthcoming sophomore LP. Lewis shared more music in 2022 as the album's release grew closer, issuing the single "Hurtless" in March of that year. The song was accompanied by a video starring Irish actors Frank Blake and Stephanie Dufresne, and within a month of its release it had already been streamed over ten million times. All of this led up to the September 2022 release of the full-length The Hardest Love, which debuted at number four in Australia. It also spawned a third single, "How Do I Say Goodbye," which cracked the Billboard Adult Top 40. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi