Summer Love (Justin Timberlake song)

, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia (pictured). After the release of his debut solo album Justified in 2002, Timberlake thought he "lost his voice" in the sense that he did not like what he was doing. He felt "burnt-out" after Justified; this partly changed his career's direction, and he took a break from the music industry and instead appeared in films. He also appeared in the films Alpha Dog, Black Snake Moan, Richard Kelly's Southland Tales, and voiced Prince Artie Pendragon in the animated film Shrek the Third, released on May 18, 2007. When he felt inspired to compose songs again, he did not choose to reunite with his former band 'NSYNC, although he considered it after his first record. Instead, he went to Justified collaborator Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley's studio in Virginia Beach, Virginia to begin sessions for his second album. However, neither of them had an idea of what the album would be–no plan for it, and even a title. 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. ==Composition==

"Summer Love" is an uptempo pop song, with a length of 4 minutes and 13 seconds. According to digital sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, "Summer Love" was written in the key of D minor, in common time with a moderately slow 96 beat-per-minute tempo. Lyrically, the single is about "wanting to fall in love with the lusty seasonal lover". ==Critical reception==

tour. "Summer Love" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Barry Schwartz of Stylus Magazine gave "Summer Love" a positive review and additionally praised "its good foot hesitation boom-clap and cascading chorus". North by Northwestern'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". An editor of Billboard criticized Timbaland's production: "[W]hile 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 Billboard Hot 100 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 Timberlake's sixth single to reach the top 10 and stayed a total of 20 weeks on the chart. and peaked at number one on June 23, 2007. "Summer Love" became Timberlake's fifth number one single on the US Pop Songs chart. 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 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 a total of 19 weeks. In Europe, the single entered the 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 a 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 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 Slovak Singles Chart. ==Live performances==

Timberlake included "Summer Love" on the set list of his 2007 worldwide tour, FutureSex/LoveShow. He also included it on the set lists of the Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour with rapper Jay-Z (2013), The 20/20 Experience World Tour (2013–15), The Man of the Woods Tour (2018–19), and The Forget Tomorrow World Tour (2024–25). ==Credits and personnel==

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of FutureSex/LoveSounds. Technical • Recorded and mixed at Thomas Crown Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia Personnel • Jimmy Douglas – Recording, mixing • Nate "Danja" Hills – Drums, keyboards, production, songwriting • Tim "Timbaland" Mosley – Drums, keyboards, mixing, production, songwriting • Justin Timberlake – Background vocals, keyboards, production, songwriting ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==