Man Made Hills Bask in the Joy of Summertime ‘Sunshine’

The jingle-jangle rockabilly-esque sound of “Sunshine” by Brooklyn, New York-based Man Made Hills echo’s nuances of The Beatles, Elvis, and Roy Orbison. It’s a nice throwback to a genre that has been highjacked and lost to polished, plastic pop. The pre-over-produced singer-songwriter days reared their heads a few years ago with acts like Mumford & Sons and few others, but for the most part, the likes of Roy Orbison, John Denver, The Everly Brothers, or John Fogerty – artists who had a path to success thanks to the creation of the genre by Black soul and blues artists – are seldom heard.

“Sunshine” chugs through an upbeat ditty, assuring that if you “Cry to the sunshine, baby, it’s gonna be alright.” Giving a sense of release from the toils of life and hardships, an assurance that despite the fact “dreams are elusive, and I need an excuse to fail,” if you simply let go and turn your head to the sun, you’re going to be fine.

A message that is very personal to singer-songwriter James Carrancio of Man Made Hills, who passionately delivers an almost bellow-y vocal performance throughout the track. And if you delve into watching Man Made Hills’ music video for “Sunshine,” you want to believe them. The video is reminiscent of “Help!”, a movie released by The Beatles in the 60s.

Man Made Hills’ gentlemen of the band run around the beach, jumping into each other’s arms, rockin’ on an air guitar, and sifting through the sand in synchronized choreography.

“Sunshine” should absolutely be part of your Spotify summer jams playlist to uplift your spirits while we still have the summer sun to wash away our hardships.