Scottish-Swedish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt has released the debut single and video “Summer Fling”, an aptly titled escapist pop tune welcome in this period of re-emergence. The song, written and produced solely by Nesbitt during the lockdown period, details the yearning for passion found in a fleeting holiday romance to be found in one more perpetual and stable. Nesbitt explores the rich imagery of both the environmental beauty and that of ardent yet ephemeral dalliances to craft an alt-pop single that announces a new chapter in her musical output, tentatively titled NM3.
The accompanying video adds dense new layers to the song, all the while reinforcing the nostalgic, dreamlike qualities she strives for on the track. Opening sans audio with Instagram-ready affirmations set against backdrops which Nesbitt eventually inhabits herself, the video is a lavish exercise in production design. Director James Wolf presents natural scenes with artificiality, positioning Nesbitt in a variety of locales, many of which are projected upon and behind the singer. She lays amongst synthetic foliage, porcelain fungi, and hangs amongst roses hung on fishing line, all of which highlight the inauthenticity of the eponymous romance despite its seemingly attractive sheen.
Nesbitt herself brings even more to the video, having choreographed her (and at one point her partner’s) gymnastic display upon an aerial hoop. Nesbitt’s confessional artistry is resonant throughout the track, which she cites as being inspired during the lockdown period from “dreaming of going back to Sweden to spend the summer there, so it’s a fantasy of that world. Where there’s no stress.” Her Swedish heritage can also be clearly heard in the song’s ABBA inspirations, from synth-heavy production to lines such as “Move my body like a dancing queen” and “Listenin’ to songs from ’76” (the year of ABBA’s seminal Arrival album).
“Summer Fling” comes as the beginning of a new era for Nesbitt following her album The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change in 2019. While no date or is set for future releases, be it any singles or a new album, Nesbitt has teased that more is to come soon.
