Four of the five songs on “Hyperfixated” will already be recognisable to fans. The other is the title track, and it’s the one doing the heavy lifting. It deals with a crush that lives entirely inside one person’s head: a stranger noticed, a whole story invented around them, and not a single word actually spoken. Plenty of pop songs are about wanting someone. Fewer are about never getting past the planning stage.
Credit for the song goes to Jessica Mougin, the name behind Jessmin, along with Alexander Haak and Stijn van Rijsbergen. AT Publishing put the three of them together for a writing session, and a demo existed before the day was over. Nick Jongejan produced the track with Jessmin, who stayed at the desk through production and mixing rather than handing it off.
Two eras meet on this EP. One is the bratty, guitar heavy pop of Avril Lavigne and Hilary Duff; the other is the electronic edge of Charli XCX and Oklou. Jessmin doesn’t choose between them. Distorted chords and synth hooks are given equal room, and the choruses are big enough to hold both.
The video takes the song’s idea out for a night at a bar. Jessmin’s attention narrows onto one man as the hours go by. Lyrically the whole EP stays in that headspace: relationships, thoughts that loop, conversations rehearsed for people who never get to hear them.
Originally from Audincourt in eastern France, Jessmin now lives in Alphen aan den Rijn, a short trip from Amsterdam. More live dates are on the way. All five songs are streaming everywhere now.
