Format CD
digital download | Length 3:44 | |
 | ||
Released 14 March 2014 (2014-03-14) Recorded Fly Eye Studio (London) Genre Electro house
dance-pop Label Deconstruction
Fly Eye
Columbia | ||
"Summer" is a song by Scottish recording artist Calvin Harris, released on 14 March 2014 as the second single from his fourth studio album, Motion (2014). Like his previous single "Feel So Close", Harris returns as a vocalist on "Summer". The accompanying music video was directed by Emil Nava and premiered on 6 April 2014.
Contents
The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Harris's sixth UK number-one single. It peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his second top ten hit as a lead artist and third overall, and had sold over a million copies in the United States as of July 2014, "Summer" has received nominations for British Single and British Artist Video of the Year at the 2015 Brit Awards.
Background
On 11 March 2014, Harris posted fifteen-second clips of the song on Instagram up until 14 March, when it was released digitally in certain territories and made its radio debut on Capital FM.
"Summer" is composed in the key of G major and has a tempo of 128 beats per minute. It follows the chord progression C–Em–D–Am–G/B. Harris's vocal range spans from G3 to D5.
Critical reception
The song received mixed to positive reviews. Lewis Corner of Digital Spy rated "Summer" three-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it "a bright and vibrant banger destined to soundtrack the warmer months". Jamieson Cox of Time magazine felt that the song "doesn't have much lyrical meat on its bones, but coming on the heels of one of the most severe winters in recent memory, listeners are likely hungry for anything that suggests a warmer, sunnier season. One of Harris' trademark gigantic synth hooks doesn't hurt its digestibility, either." Robbie Daw of Idolator viewed the track as "a shameless bid at nabbing an 'Umbrella'/'California Gurls'/'Blurred Lines'-like Song Of The Summer anthem".
In September 2014, "Summer" was named the song of the summer by Spotify; it was the most listened track since June 2014 with more than 160 million plays. Time listed "Summer" as the seventh worst song of 2014.
Music video
The music video for "Summer" was directed by Emil Nava and premiered on 6 April 2014, with a cameo appearance by English actor Jason Statham.
As of March 2017, the music video has received over 1.09 billion views on YouTube.
Certifications
Since May 2013, RIAA certifications for digital singles include on-demand audio and/or video song streams in addition to downloads, resulting in the 3× Platinum certification for the track.