''Sunshine Hit Me'' is the debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

band The Bees. At the time when the album was recorded the band only comprised Paul Butler and Aaron Fletcher, who wrote, performed and recorded the album alone using a home studio in Butler's parents' garden. Both Butler and Fletcher had been active in the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

music scene for a while, performing in local indie/

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

outfits Pnu Riff and, more recently, the Exploding Thumbs. Butler had also guested on several other albums produced on the island, including some by Max Brennan. The album is eclectic and summery, with a range of influences that include

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

, Jamaican dub,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, indie, 1960s rock and others. It earned a

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

nomination and also featured in the 2005 and 2008 editions of the book 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die by Michael Lydon. The main single "A Minha Menina" was used in a

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 8 ...

car advertisement, which also helped the band to get noticed. The track was also used in an advert for

Magners Irish Cider Magners Irish Cider is a brand of hard cider produced in County Tipperary in Ireland by the C&C Group. The product range includes the cider varieties: Original, Light, Berry, Pear and Rosé. The cider was originally produced as Bulmers Iris ...

in December 2008, as well as a

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

advertisement in Australia in 2002. The band followed the album with several tours, which resulted in the band expanding into its current lineup in order to play the material live. However, all the members had played with Butler before on the island, whether in his other projects or simply in informal jams (whilst Butler and Fletcher produced and performed the album themselves, the entire six-piece is credited on the back sleeve). After the success of the album, the band signed to

Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

, and released their next album ''

Free The Bees ''Free the Bees'' is the second album from British band The Bees in 2004. Their first release for Virgin Records, it is also the first album to feature the current sextet that evolved during the tour that promoted debut album '' Sunshine Hit M ...

'' in 2004.

Legacy

The album was included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''.

Track listing

# "Punchbag" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher) – 3:38 # "Angryman" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher) – 4:06 # "No Trophy" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher, Michael Clevitt) – 3:26 # "Binnel Bay" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher) – 2:57 # "Sunshine" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher, James Nye) – 3:27 # " A Minha Menina" (

Jorge Ben Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben (). His characteristic style fuses samba, ...

) – 2:48 # "This Town" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher) – 2:59 # "Sweet Like a Champion" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher) – 4:27 # "Lying in the Snow" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher) – 3:52 # "Zia" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher, James Nye) – 4:12 # "Sky Holds the Sun" (Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher) – 3:39 US Version Bonus Track # "You Got To Leave"

Personnel

*Paul Butler – multi-instrumentation, production, recording, vocals *Aaron Fletcher – multi-instrumentation, production, recording, vocals *Michael Clevitt - bass guitar on "No Trophy" *James Nye – keyboards & saxophone on "Sunshine" and "Zia"

References

{{Authority control 2002 debut albums The Bees (band) albums Astralwerks albums