I’d put money on the chorus of “Hyperfixated” being stuck in your head by tomorrow morning. It got me on the first play, which is clearly what Jessmin and her cowriters were going for, and I’m not even mad about it.
The title track lands today alongside the rest of her debut EP, and it might be the most honest song about a crush I’ve heard in a while. Not the dramatic kind, either. She sees a guy across a room, rehearses every possible conversation in her head, replays them, rewrites them, and then never walks over. That’s it. That’s the song. Anyone who has ever composed a perfect opening line and then gone home without saying a word will feel a little exposed.
The verses move fast, almost twitchy, like her thoughts are tripping over each other. Then the chorus opens up and just sits there, big and bright. It’s a smart contrast, because the restlessness is the whole point.
She wrote it in a single session with Alexander Haak and Stijn van Rijsbergen, set up through AT Publishing, and they had a demo done the same day. You can sort of hear that. It has the energy of something that came out in one go rather than being picked apart for months. Nick Jongejan, her producer for years now, finished it off with her in the room for every step of the production and mix.
Her influences are pretty easy to spot once you know them. The guitars carry that Avril Lavigne and Hilary Duff era I grew up on too, while the synths lean toward Charli XCX and Oklou. On paper that pairing sounds odd. On the record it just works.
The other four songs on Hyperfixated are the singles she’s already released, so if you’ve been following her, the new track is the real reason to press play. I’d also watch the video, which follows one night in a bar where she clocks a guy early on and slowly loses the plot over him.
Jessmin, born in Audincourt and now based in Alphen aan den Rijn, will take these songs out with her full band soon, including support slots for Call It Off. I’d go.
Photo Credit: Jessmin.
