[4] The record spawned four singles: "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)", which topped charts in Australia,[5] New Zealand and Iceland; "Sunshine on Leith", a ballad that has become an anthem for Scottish football club Hibernian F.C.

[7] Sunshine on Leith marked a departure from the minimalist acoustics of the group's 1987 debut This Is the Story, toward a rock-oriented full band sound, backed by members of the Fairport Convention and Dexys Midnight Runners.

6 in New Zealand and the United Kingdom respectively, while also charting in Canada and Sweden, ultimately selling over 2 million copies worldwide, including over 700,000 in the USA.

[12] The recording for Sunshine on Leith marked the first time that the Proclaimers had worked with a band,[2] having recruited a studio lineup including Fairport Convention drummer Dave Mattacks and Steve Shaw of Dexys Midnight Runners.

[15] Alluding to the record's moods, Tom Demalton of AllMusic identified "a thread of optimism that runs through most of the album",[11] with Mike Bohem of Los Angeles Times similarly detailing that the band's blend of "ambitious, catchy melody with an earthy, unbridled approach to singing helps the Proclaimers put across songs of unabashed joy".

[13] "Cap in Hand" was written about the Proclaimers' longstanding support for Scottish independence; in 1994, LA Times described the song as "unequivocally independence-minded".

The track has been described as "jaunty" and "catchy" and prominently featured the lyric "I can't understand why we let someone else rule our land; cap in hand".

Utah-based publication Salt Lake City Weekly stated in 2009 that despite the track's "poppy" sound, "Cap in Hand" was a "Billy Bragg-ish protest against England’s dominion over the Reids’ homeland".

[16][17] [18] "My Old Friend the Blues" is a cover of a song from American alternative country musician Steve Earle's debut album Guitar Town (1986).

As stated by Los Angeles Times in 1989, "Sean" was written for duo member Charlie Reid's son, born in 1987; the lyrics have been described by Chicago Reader as "thoughts about life passed on to a newborn".

In a four-and-a-half out of five star review, Tom Demalton of AllMusic proclaimed the record to be "highly listenable and thoroughly engaging blend of folk and pop".

[14] Rhino Insider remarked of a reissued edition that Sunshine on Leith offered "plenty more to enjoy" beyond the lead single, containing "fine originals" "("Oh Jean", "I'm On My Way") and "appealing covers" ("My Old Friend the Blues"), and opined the album to be "invigorating from beginning to end".

[9] The band's Craig Reid divulged that the album's Australian smash, retrospectively dubbed "Proclaimermania",[5] in 1989 was "the biggest success we’ve ever had anywhere".