Inside Dirty In The Sand With Olivia Prado

On Dirty In The Sand, out August 26, the Bay Area-raised, Los Angeles-based artist leans further into the things that already suit her best: R&B-rooted production, sharp pop instincts, warmth, attitude, and vocals that feel more confident with every release.

Across six tracks, the EP follows attraction as it changes shape. “Temptation,” “Up n Down,” and “Turn Me On” live in the thrill of wanting something. By “Ocean” and closer “Is It Enough,” that confidence has opened into something more vulnerable.

“I was intentional about starting the project with ‘Temptation,’ where the yearning feels exciting and almost wondrous, and ending with ‘Is It Enough,’ where that same yearning has become much more solemn and uncertain.”

That arc gives Dirty In The Sand its pull. Prado lets the fun come first, then stays long enough to see what happens when the feelings get deeper.

Getting Your Hands Dirty

The title arrived while Prado was writing over a beat from producer Mikos Da Gawd.

“Once I wrote the hook, I realized how much I loved the idea,” she tells Everyday Jams. “I could immediately see the whole project like a movie.”

She also liked that Dirty In The Sand pushed her slightly outside her comfort zone.

“The title made me a little uncomfortable, just like Liv Laugh Love did, but that’s part of why I chose it, lol.”

What began as a hook quickly became a way of thinking about the entire project: giving yourself permission to be fully present in attraction, intimacy, uncertainty, and everything that can follow.

“As soon as I wrote ‘Dirty In The Sand,’ I knew it communicated a world I wanted to live in—sexy, playful, a little dangerous and not too precious.”

That last part feels especially true of this era. Prado’s music is polished, but it never feels overly careful.

Confidence, Groove, and a Little Attitude

The first half of Dirty In The Sand is meant to feel good.

“I wanted them to establish the bold and sexy side of the EP—the fully ‘in the moment’ part of it all,” Prado says of the opening tracks. “I wanted people to feel themselves in the mirror or in the car listening to these tracks. Maybe do a little body roll or booty shake or something, LOL.”

It is an energy that comes naturally to her.

Prado credits her Bay Area roots for some of the confidence in her sound, particularly her ease around R&B and heavier production.

“I think I get a lot of my confidence and swag from my Bay Area roots. I’m really comfortable with heavier-hitting beats and adding my own feminine flair to them.”

Living in Los Angeles has widened the palette, pulling more pop and alternative influence into that foundation. Across the EP, she draws from records and artists as varied as Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, Mariah Carey’s Daydream, Kaytranada, and ’70s and ’80s soul.

But none of it sounds overly studied.

“Those influences are so ingrained in me at this point that I don’t really have to consciously reference them—they just come out naturally when I’m creating.”

That ease is one of Prado’s strengths. She knows what she likes, and Dirty In The Sand sounds like an artist becoming less interested in explaining why.

When the Mood Turns

By the final stretch of the EP, the emotional temperature changes.

“Is It Enough” takes a much more exposed question and sets it against some of the project’s biggest production.

“The ‘enough’ question, for sure,” Prado says when we ask what was hardest to write honestly. “It’s something I’ve tried to write about so many times, but with ‘Is It Enough,’ I finally felt like I got it right.”

“The production and melody feel so big and anthemic while speaking of something so vulnerable, and I really like that contrast.”

That ending gives the EP more dimension than its title might initially suggest.

“I actually loved placing them at the end because I don’t think it’s the ending you’d expect from the title alone.”

It is also where Prado’s songwriting feels most revealing. The confidence of the opening tracks does not disappear; it simply becomes more complicated once there is something real at stake.

The Bigger Sister

Prado calls Dirty In The Sand the “bigger sister” to her 2024 debut album, Liv Laugh Love.

“I think Dirty In The Sand is more grown, more mature,” she says.

That growth shows up in her vocals, the personality of the performances, and a new willingness to leave certain edges untouched.

“I’ve gotten more comfortable letting certain imperfections live instead of polishing everything away.”

Even some of the project’s best details came from things Prado did not plan.

The beach imagery that now defines the era began as video content for “Ocean,” before Dirty In The Sand had even been written. Photos taken by her friend Laura Piedra ended up helping Prado understand the larger visual world of the EP.

The title track has its own accident built into it: a background vocal on the demo was tuned to the wrong key. Instead of fixing it, Prado and her collaborators began building around the unexpected sound.

“It gave it this MJ-esque feel and complexity that wasn’t planned.”

Those moments fit an artist who is learning to trust what feels right instead of sanding every edge down.

“I’ve just grown more into what I’m naturally good at, and stopped trying to overcomplicate my artistry.”

For Prado, that confidence extends beyond the studio. As an independent artist involved in songwriting, creative direction, visuals, marketing, and release strategy, she has learned that finishing something can be its own kind of clarity.

“It takes a lot of will to see a project through to the finish line, and I’ve learned that what I have the conviction to finish is usually what’s most authentic to me.”

Going for It

By spring, Prado knew these six songs belonged together.

“I had a lot of songs floating around, but I realized these six each showed a different side of me sonically. Together, they felt like the most complete representation of my artistry.”

That may be the clearest way to describe Dirty In The Sand. It is not one version of Olivia Prado. It is flirtation and doubt, confidence and vulnerability, heavier R&B instincts and pop polish all living in the same place.

More than anything, she hopes listeners take some of that openness with them.

“I hope they walk away feeling a little more willing to throw themselves into whatever is calling them, even if it feels messy or uncertain.”

And then, more simply:

“You don’t have to have everything figured out to go for something.”

Dirty In The Sand feels like Olivia Prado trusting herself enough to do exactly that.

Olivia Prado’s Dirty In The Sand is out now.

Photography: Laura Piedra