Today the Sun's on Us

"Today the Sun's on Us"
Single by Sophie Ellis-Bextor
from the album Trip the Light Fantastic
B-side	"Duel"
Released	6 August 2007 (2007-08-06)
Format	CD single
Genre	Pop
Length	4:18
Label	Fascination
Writer(s)	Sophie Ellis-Bextor Steve Robson Nina Woodford
Producer(s)	Jeremy Wheatley Brio Taliaferro
Sophie Ellis-Bextor singles chronology
"Me and My Imagination" (2007) "Today the Sun's on Us" (2007) "Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)" (2009)

"Today the Sun's on Us" is a song by the English recording artist Sophie Ellis-Bextor from her third studio album Trip the Light Fantastic (2007). It was written by Ellis-Bextor alongside Steve Robson and Nina Woodford, while production was helmed by Jeremy Wheatley and Brio Taliaferro. A pop ballad, it contains electric and bass guitar; its melancholic lyrics address living the "good times".^[1] The track served as the third single from the album, and was released on 6 August 2007 as a CD single.

Critical response to "Today the Sun's on Us" was mixed—some appreciated the overall tone of the song, and others criticized Ellis-Bextor's vocal performance. Commercially, the song had very limited success, peaking at number 64 on the UK Singles Chart. An accompanying music video was filmed in Iceland, and features Ellis-Bextor and her boyfriend stealing a couple.

Recording and composition

"Today the Sun's on Us" was produced by Jeremy Wheatley and Brio Taliaferro, while the English musician Steve Robson engineered Ellis-Bextor's vocals. Wheatley mixed the song at the Twenty-One Studios in London, where he was assisted by Richard Edgeler. The song is a slow adult pop ballad which features instrumentation from electric guitars and a bass guitar.^[2][3][4] Richard Jones recorded both instruments, and Tim Van der Kuit recorded the electric guitar. The track was co-written by Ellis-Bextor, Robson and the Swedish songwriter Nina Woodford. Ellis-Bextor commented that the song talks about "appreciating the good times", and is "very sensitive", despite observing that it is "a bit melancholy".^[1][5] In 2010, she discussed the song,

It still gets me a little bit. I think that's cos [sic] it's really sincere. [...] when you've got a family, you spend a lot of time worrying about the what-ifs, and all the terrible things that can happen. You have to remember to not lose the moment because you're worried about what could be. But it's easier said than done.^[6]

Release

Richard Jones provided instrumentation for "Today the Sun's on Us".

"Today the Sun's on Us" was released as a CD single by Fascination as the third single from Trip the Light Fantastic. Issued on 6 August 2007, the single included the original version of the song and Ellis-Bextor's cover of "Duel" by Propaganda.^[7] Ellis-Bextor stated that she released the song because "it was important to me with this single to push boundaries a little bit and part of that is explore a few musical directions that are a bit more unexpected, so it's been nice to release a ballad".^[1]

Critical reception

AllMusic's K. Ross Hoffman described the song as a "highlight" from its parent album Trip the Light Fantastic (2007).^[2] Nick Levine of Digital Spy remarked that, in "Today the Sun's on Us", Ellis-Bextor incorporated a "guitar pop balladeer" and her vocals are "limited".^[3] Writing for Playlouder, Jeremy Allen positively compared the song to the works of Theaudience, a band of which Ellis-Bextor was part of.^[8] Writing for musicOMH, Ben Hogwood observed that it was "pleasant enough", despite recognising that it was a "grower". He stated, "Also lacking is a big chorus (...) The principal thing it does, however, is make you want to put on one of her sassier [songs]".^[9] The staff of Popjustice listed it as the eighth greatest 2007 single, and opined that the track was "brilliant".^[10] This Is Fake DIY writer Stuart McCaighy characterised the song as "warm, layered and soothing with a summery sheen".^[11] Emily Mackay from Yahoo! Music likened "Today the Sun's on Us" to "The Cardigans on a bad day" and to the "naffer moments of Pink or Kelly Clarkson." Mackay also found Ellis-Bextor's voice too light to support the track.^[4]

Chart performance

The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 64, on the chart issue dated 25 August 2007.^[12] As of January 2014, the song is Ellis-Bextor's 18th best-selling single in the United Kingdom.^[13] Ellis-Bextor later talked on the chart success the song had, "It just didn't get heard by enough people, [...] I suppose as well it felt slightly frustrating because it was a slightly different style of song for me, and I really got sort of punished for it."^[6]

Music video

The music video for "Today the Sun's on Us" was filmed in Iceland.^[6] The video begins with Ellis-Bextor, wearing a black dress and short hair, trying to talk to her on-screen boyfriend, who is sending text messages through his phone. Later, she plays a sudoku game on a computer however her boyfriend makes her leave. He starts browsing through pictures of a man and a woman kissing, who are later seen by Ellis-Bextor and her boyfriend through the window of the hotel room. The following day, they start following the recently-arrived couple, and at night, in the hotel restaurant, Ellis-Bextor manages to steal the couple's room key and breaks into the room. She steals money from a safe in the room, while in the restaurant, her boyfriend looks at the other couple repeatedly. She and her boyfriend pack and leave the hotel, and the latter gets angry when he learns that Ellis-Bextor has stolen the couple. She decides to abandon their car, and, seemingly angry as well, goes near a cliff. The visual ends with him trying to comfort Ellis-Bextor, hugging her.

References