“Brief Fixation” is a breakup song with an attitude. Instead of focusing on sadness, Jen Kirsten taps into the anger that comes when someone leaves you with more questions than answers.
The lyrics follow a relationship that never became what Kirsten hoped it would. “It was never about me, was it?” sits at the heart of the song, followed by the blunt conclusion: “You were only escaping”. She admits she wished she could hate this person, but also wished them well and was disappointed when they never replied.
Some of the best lines come when Kirsten gets specific. “Red wine, coffee, brief fixation” turns the relationship into something short-lived that still leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. Then comes the warning: “Don’t screw over a songwriter / I’ll always have the final word”. It’s a sharp line and sums up the song’s approach nicely.
The final verse adds a touch of vulnerability. Kirsten admits that whenever something good happened, this was still the first person she wanted to tell. It shows that, despite everything, she still cared about them.
Jen Kirsten is a singer-songwriter, composer and producer based in Edinburgh, and she made “Brief Fixation” with friends. She has also described the track as a deliberately human-made production and says she is anti-AI.
“Brief Fixation” is direct, catchy and easy to relate to. It takes the frustration of being let down, gives it a bit of humour and turns it into a song that gets the final word.
