The Bees Sunshine Hit Me Review
Album Review Featuring A MInha Menina and Punchbag
Sunshine Hit Me begins by creating a hazy, summer day ambience on 'Punchbag'. The track combines horns, keys, and African-tinged percussion to create a shimmering soundscape which is complemented by the gruff yet floating vocals of Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher. The evocation of lazy, beautiful summer evenings on 'Punchbag' signpost the overall sound of the record - a sound at odds with the album's inception in an Isle of Wight shed.
The falsetto-led 'Angryman' builds itself upon some cowbell and clicks, reflecting the eclectic nature of Sunshine Hit Me's instrumentation. The short, sharp horns over the track's refrain create a snappy counterpoint to the cowbell, and to an extent echo David Bowie's Young Americans period. Unlike the rest of the album, 'Angryman' contains some fairly unchallenging lyrics, yet does keep some of the lines on a constant repeat, a move carried off by the beguiling sound of Butler and Fletcher's unrefined voices.
World Music Influence
'No Trophy' continues the exotic vibe by taking on a reggae-influenced form, its slightly tongue-in-cheek use of organ adding a sense of fun to the proceedings. The track is the first example of the slightly off-kilter lyrics used by The Bees, to some extent nonsensical but creating the appropriate vibe for each track.
'Binnel Bay' evokes a tribal vibe with its percussion, which brings together African and Caribbean sounds to create a dynamic yet sedate burst of summery escapism. The more straight-forward 'This Town' punctures the feel-good demeanour of the record with a tale of being out of place, but the song's message - one of hoping to live in freedom, the protagonist and everyone - rises above the melancholy implications and makes the track somewhat triumphant.
A Minha Menina
Sunshine Hit Me gained notoriety in the UK by the use of 'A Minha Menina' in an advert for a Citroen car. The track, a cover of the Brazilian band Os Mutantes' original, sees The Bees move out of their relaxed evening feel in to a more upbeat, danceable zone, the Portuguese lyrics encouraging a sing along. Less grimy than the original, the sleeker-sounding 'A Minha Menina' loses none of the original's fun, and made a slight dent on the UK singles chart.
Sunshine Hit Me displays an impressive amount of musicianship, especially in the context of the record being recorded by two men in a shed. On the mostly instrumental tracks, 'Sunshine' and 'Zia' ('Sunshine' features just the title being sung towards the close of the track) The Bees solidify the summer feel of the record.
'Zia's jazzy organ spices up the delicate and beautiful piano lead, with the song's use of horns complementing the chilled, slightly romantic ambience of the track. 'Zia' strolls in to the closing track, the achingly lovely 'Sky Holds The Sun'. The repeated refrain of the title, coupled with the shimmering keys and late-evening trumpet work create a beautiful sound, the perfect end to a summer's night.
Sunshine Hit Me proves to have one of the most apt titles in music history, the record glimmering and hazy like an evening at the height of a summer heatwave. Both romantic and beguiling, the record gained enough success for Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher to recruit an entire band for the follow-up albums, Free The Bees and Octopus.
Sunshine Hit Me album cover
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