"Summer Love" is a song by American recording artist

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

from his second studio album ''

FutureSex/LoveSounds ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake, released on September 8, 2006 by Jive Records and Zomba. Following a three-year writing hiatus, Timberlake conceived the album in collabora ...

'' (2006). The song was released as the fourth single from the album in April 2007. It was co-written and co-produced by Timberlake, along with Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley and

Nate "Danja" Hills Floyd Nathaniel Hills (born February 22, 1982), professionally known as Danja (), is an American record producer and songwriter from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Starting off as a co-producer for Timbaland, he has since then created an extensive cat ...

. The song was produced following Timberlake's two-year hiatus from the music industry; when he felt "burnt out" after the release of his debut solo album '' Justified'' in 2002. "Summer Love" is a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

and pop song about "wanting to fall in love with the lusty seasonal lover". Its instrumentation consists of

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

s and

handclaps A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), b ...

. "Summer Love" received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

; with some comparing it to his work with his former group 'N Sync. Despite not being officially released in the United States, "Summer Love" reached number six on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and number one on the ''Billboard''

Pop Songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

chart. It was certified platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for selling over one million units. The song also peaked at the top 10 in Belgium and Canada. "Summer Love" was included in the

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

of Timberlake's second world tour

FutureSex/LoveShow The FutureSex/LoveShow was the third concert tour by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake. It showcased his second studio album, ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' (2006). The tour grossed $127.8 million. It was the third highest-grossing concert ...

in 2007.

Production and release

When composing songs for his second studio album ''

'', Timberlake went to former '' Justified'' collaborator

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

's studio in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

, to begin sessions for his second album. However, not one of them had an idea of what the album would be–no plan for it and even a title. "Summer Love/Set the Mood (Prelude)" was written and produced by Timo "Timbaland" Mosley,

and Timberlake himself. The song was recorded by Jimmy Douglas, while its mixing was done by Douglas together with Timbaland. The keyboards were provided by Timberlake, Timbaland and Danja; the latter also played the drums in the single. "Summer Love" was released as the sixth and final single from ''FutureSex/LoveSounds''. The song was remixed with additional vocals by hip-hop rapper

Stat Quo Stanley Bernard Benton (born July 24, 1978), better known as Stat Quo, is an American rapper and record producer.Shaheem Reid (January 12, 2004).Mixtape Mondays: Stat Quo" ''MTV''. Accessed February 5, 2008. Benton worked his way to college a ...

. A reviewer of DJ Booth commented that the collaboration will "burn up the dance floors". He also explained that "the collaboration is chalked full of infectious production work from none other than Timbo imbaland"

Composition

"Summer Love" is an uptempo pop song, with a length of 4 minutes and 13 seconds. According to digital sheet music published at Musinotes.com by

Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a North American music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. It was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram. Universal Music Publishing is the worl ...

, "Summer Love" was written in the key of

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for t ...

, in common time with a moderately slow 96 beat-per-minute

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

. Timberlake's vocal range in the song spans from the low note of D4 to the high note of A5. Its instrumentation consists of keyboards, drums, guitar, piano and handclaps. Barry Schwartz of ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' praised the song and commented that "with its good foot hesitation boom-clap and cascading chorus synthline" 'Summer Love' shows Timberlake's best vocals on ''FutureSex/LoveSounds''." Schwartz further said that "the beat drops out while he sings in perfect harmony, 'Tell me how they got that pretty little face on that pretty little frame girl'". Lyrically, the single is about "wanting to fall in love with the lusty seasonal lover".

Critical reception

Critics reacted in a generally positive manner to "Summer Love". Barry Schwartz of Stylus Magazine gave "Summer Love" a positive review and additionally praised "its good foot hesitation boom-clap and cascading chorus". Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' stated, "a dreary central-casting pop ballad called 'Summer Love' is enlivened only by another of Timberlake's peculiar announcements: 'I'm sick and tired of trying to save the world.' Shaheem Reid and Jayson Rodriguez off

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stated that "Summer Love" alongside Timberlake's 2007 singles " My Love" and "

LoveStoned "LoveStoned" (also known as "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows") is a song by American singer and songwriter Justin Timberlake from his second studio album, ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' (2006). It was released on June 29, 2007. It was written and produce ...

", rocked every

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...

, stereo player and stadium during his

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

North by Northwestern ''North by Northwestern'' is a daily online news magazine at Northwestern University, started in September 2006 by students at the Medill School of Journalism. It is noted for its multimedia coverage of campus events. In 2008, the site was recog ...

's Dagny Salas called "Summer Love/Set the Mood (Interlude)" a stand-out track on ''FutureSex/LoveSounds''. According to him the song "oozes sun, sex, and a sultry affair". A reviewer of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

commented that "the bulk of the album is focused on funk lite, but with 'Summer Love/Set The Mood (Prelude)' Timberlake and Timbaland slip into darkness." An editor of ''Billboard'' criticized Timbaland's production: " ile the track offers cunning instrumentation, Timbaland's heavy production hand is so overwhelming that the singer is pushed to the back of the track".

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number 74 on the US ''

chart in the issue dated April 28, 2007. After seven weeks on the chart, on June 9, 2007, the single reached its peak at number six. The next week it fell to number eight and stayed on the position for four weeks, before falling to number nine in the issue dated July 14, 2007. "Summer Love" became Timberlakes's sixth single to reach the top 10 and stayed a total of 20 weeks on the chart. It ranked at number 39 on ''Billboards Best of 2007 – Hot 100 Songs. The single debuted on the US Pop Songs chart at number 39 in the issue dated April 21, 2007, and peaked at number one on June 23, 2007. "Summer Love" became Timberlake's fifth number one single on the US Pop Songs chart. For the issue dated July 28, 2007, the song peaked at number 24 on the US

Adult Pop Songs The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

chart. It was certified platinum by the

(RIAA) after one million downloads of the song were sold. As of 2018, the song has sold 1.6 million copies in the country. "Summer Love" peaked at number eight on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

chart, for the issue dated June 30, 2007 and stayed on the chart for 16 weeks. Elsewhere, the song attained moderate success. In New Zealand, "Summer Love" debuted at number 35 on August 27, 2007. After thirteen weeks fluctuating on the chart it reached its peak of fifteen on November 26, 2007. The song stayed on the chart for total of 19 weeks. In Europe, the single entered on six national charts. In Austria it debuted at number 52, and after two weeks the song peaked at number 47. It stayed on the chart for total of seven weeks. "Summer Love" was more successful in Belgium, where it reached number six on the Flandrian Singles Chart and number eight on the Wallonian Singles Chart. The single entered the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

at number 53 and the next week it reached its peak at number 38. In Germany, "Summer Love" charted together with "Until the End of Time" and peaked at number 39. It stayed on the chart for nine weeks. The song also reached number 22 on the

Slovakian Singles Chart Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arka ...

Track listing

* CD single # "Summer Love" — 4:13 # " Until the End of Time" (duet with

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

) — 5:22

Credits and personnel

Technical * Recorded and mixed at

Thomas Crown Studios Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

Personnel Credits are adapted from the liner notes of ''FutureSex/LoveSounds''. * Jimmy Douglas –

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

, mixing *

– Drums, keyboards, production,

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

* Tim "Timbaland" Mosley – Drums, keyboards, mixing, production, songwriting *

–

Background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

, keyboards, production, songwriting

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Justin Timberlake songs 2006 songs 2007 singles Justin Timberlake songs Song recordings produced by Danja (record producer) Song recordings produced by Timbaland Songs written by Justin Timberlake Songs written by Timbaland Songs written by Danja (record producer) Song recordings produced by Justin Timberlake