Originally released in March 2002, Sunshine Hit Me is the jubilant debut LP from The Bees, an album of Arcadian good vibes.
Entirely written, recorded and produced at home - in a home garden studio called ‘The Shed’ on their native Isle of Wight - Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher’s debut album as The Bees is a truly otherworldly debut. Taking inspiration from a wide source of genres and styles, Sunshine Hit Me plays out like a love letter to record digging and tape swapping. Like magpies left entirely to their own devices, there is such a joyous exploration, and the authenticity of their intentions enabled them to find a lo-fi sonic space of their own, away from the direct shadows of their influences.
A homespun trip through Tropicália, Jamaican sound system culture, Afrobeat and speaker-swirling psychedelia - especially on a ripping cover version of Os Mutantes ‘A Minha Menina’ - with layers of organ and woozed-out brass. Not only is it an album of supreme vibe, there are also so many wonderful moments. Much of the album's warm and fuzzy idiosyncrasies sound like anything from 1970’s James Bond soundtracks to a blue-eyed soul take on Curtis Mayfield. If nothing else, it certainly doesn’t sound like two men in a shed.
An album that grew by word of mouth when that was still the way it could work, it would eventually gain the duo a Mercury nomination. It is sweet, it is funny, it is weird, it is full of grooves and it is utterly charming. We dare you to take a trip in a car on a sunny day and not beam from ear to ear at the expansive world that was captured on Sunshine Hit Me.
On the album’s reissue last autumn, the band looked back to its release and reminisced…
“While the shore gently lapped in and out – we didn’t notice the tides, we had made a space so innocent to create in, that the music was just allowed to happen. Our friends, families, and the circles we spent time in all truthfully shaped this record. Equally exploring the styles of producers, engineers and studio techniques sculptured the sonics and the sound. Lyrically it was always about clear positive expression. You’ve got to project to collect. But let’s not forget, that this record was recorded and produced in a shed(!) in a valley that runs from the side of the downs on the Isle of Wight. If you let them, there would be cows who would pop their heads in the window. It was a joy, a period of two blissful years at the turn of the century. It’s timeless and it’s ever so grateful. The sun always shone and now we are delighted that this record has been reissued.”
Mate. Us too!
• This anniversary edition is pressed on 'Mask' Blue colour vinyl.
• Remastered at Electric Mastering in 2023
• The LP also includes a download code for two bonus dub tracks.