Today the Sun's on Us (Richmann Radio Edit)

There are few things more frustrating than great albums being ignored because of underwhelming singles. Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s most recent masterpiece, Trip the Light Fantastic, was one of those albums. Despite being one of the very best pop records of 2007, it was largely overlooked due to poor single choices. I’ll be writing about the album’s third single, Today the Sun’s on Us, and a remix of the song which could have turned things around for this brilliant album.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is an English pop singer who began her career in alternative rock band, theaudience. Upon the band’s split in 2000, she collaborated with Italian DJ Spiller on the #1 UK hit Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) (also notable for being the first song ever to be played on an iPod). The following year she released her hugely successful debut album Read My Lips which resulted in the UK top 5 singles Take Me Home, Murder on the Dancefloor (for which she is most well known), Get Over You, and Move This Mountain, as well as the less successful, but wonderful Music Gets the Best of Me. During this time, Sophie Ellis-Bextor found success throughout Europe, Australia, and Latin America, but failed to make an impact in the US. She has yet to make an attempt to break through here, presumably because the American music market is notoriously difficult for foreign pop artists.

Unfortunately, Sophie Ellis-Bextor has since failed to achieve the same success. Her second album, Shoot from the Hip, was released in 2003 and peaked at a disappointing #19. The singles Mixed Up World and I Won’t Change You were mild hits, but a third single and a tour for the album were canceled when Sophie became pregnant.

Trip the Light Fantastic was released in May 2007 to rave reviews. It reached #7 on the UK Albums Chart, a drastic improvement over her sophomore album, but a far cry from her #2 debut. As I mentioned, the album’s singles did nothing to help its performance. The lead single, Catch You, peaked at a so-so #8 on the singles chart. It’s a pretty catchy pop rock song, but hardly an album highlight. Even the pop rock album track New York City Lights probably would have made a more interesting single. The most obvious choice for a first single would have been fan-favorite If You Go. Sophie herself has expressed that she desperately wanted the song to be a single. In the end though, it wasn’t released at all. Instead, the disco-inspired Me and My Imagination was chosen as the second single. It’s actually one of my favorites on the album, but not nearly as radio-friendly as other dance-pop songs on the album like If I Can’t Dance. The song flopped at #23, possibly due in part to an iTunes error which delayed the song’s digital release by a week. The first two singles could have been better, but the nail in the coffin for Trip the Light Fantastic was Today the Sun’s on Us.

Today the Sun’s on Us was released on August 13, 2007 and peaked at a dismal #64. It’s a pretty generic pop rock ballad. In my opinion, it’s the weakest song on Trip the Light Fantastic, save The Distance Between Us. Many fans consider it to be one of the worst single releases in recent history. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not the worst song ever made. You might even hear it on the radio and think to yourself, “That was kind of pretty.” What it wouldn’t make you think is, “That was amazing! I have to hear that song again!” – ideally what a single should do. It just has no commercial appeal. At this time in Sophie’s career, she needed another Murder on the Dancefloor, but instead she got a complete departure from her previous work. If she were pumping out hits like in the Read My Lips era, there may have been room for experimentation, but she was trying to recover from the failure of Me and My Imagination.

I’ll admit, it takes a really great ballad to impress me, but I’m clearly not alone on this one. Many critics agreed, with Yahoo! calling it “reminiscent of The Cardigans on a bad day.” Another reviewer said that Today the Sun's on Us “won’t set pulses racing.” That is why this song’s release was so upsetting: There are plenty of songs on the album that would “set pulses racing.” If I Can’t Dance, New York City Lights, China Heart, and Can’t Have It All could have been huge hits if promoted properly. There was only one song that needed to be a single, though. I can’t quite wrap my brain around what the label saw in Today the Sun’s on Us that made them ignore the overwhelming response to If You Go.

While most agree that Today the Sun’s on Us was a terrible choice for a single, I can’t help but think that if this remix had been released as the main version, it might not have done so poorly.


The Richmann Radio Edit begins with techno-like effects, an uptempo beat, and Sophie’s cries of “ohhhh” taken from the outro of the original mix. Unlike the repetitive guitar loop and mid-tempo drumbeat of the album version, the captivating blips, beeps, and buzzes of the intro grab the listener’s attention right away and never let go. The highlight of the mix is the blissful, trance-inspired break around the 2:49 mark. To me, the instrumental break is where the ballad version really fell apart. It’s truly amazing how Richmann breathed so much life into what was such a lifeless song.

While not quite as appealing as some of the overlooked album tracks, Richmann’s remix of Today the Sun’s on Us is everything the original should have been. It’s quite common in Europe, where dance music is to their market what rap is to ours, for remixes to be issued as singles. Most recently Swedish pop singer September had a #5 hit in the UK with her remix of Cry for You, made especially for British radio. The Freemasons are famous for their radio-friendly dance remixes of pop songs. Of course, Richmann isn’t a big name like the Freemasons, but I have no doubt that his version would have gotten more airplay than the original. He deserved that recognition for turning a dull, simple song into an interesting and remarkably complex one. After all, that’s what remixing is all about.