“Summer Affair” hurls you straight into sunshine—mid-jump, eyes closed, no shoes. Mary Middlefield is back with a dizzy, danceable burst of rock-pop that feels like being sixteen and slightly tipsy at a garden party where no one’s watching the clock. It’s a song that doesn’t care if you’re a little too loud, or a little too much. In fact, that’s sort of the point.
There’s something gloriously immediate in this one. Mary’s voice doesn’t tiptoe—it plunges. Urgent, defiant, and completely untamed, it rides a wave of shoegaze-tinted guitars and drums that won’t sit still. The whole thing is wonderfully messy in the best way—like a room after a great night out. The chorus sticks like the smell of someone’s perfume on your jacket. You could call it catchy, but that would be underselling it. This isn’t a chorus—it’s a dare.
And while the energy is all heat and sweat and euphoric recklessness, there’s a clarity in the production that anchors it—thanks to the hands behind Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, and even Olivia Rodrigo. But it never feels polished to a fault. Instead, it wears its chaos like sequins—loud, proud, and lit by the sun. The string-laden background hints at Mary’s classical training, but the end result? It’s rock done right, with its sleeves rolled up and sunglasses on.
About Mary Middlefield:
If you’ve been sleeping on Mary Middlefield, it’s time to wake up. Trained since five, classically no less, she’s now two albums deep and she’s not easing up. From Glastonbury to Montreux, via BBC Radio 6 and Spotify’s ones-to-watch list, she’s sprinting through stages with a grin and a guitar. And if “Summer Affair” is anything to go by, this next chapter’s going to be wild.
Follow Mary Middlefield: