This year see the return of one of our most beloved projects, a collaboration between Ghanain xylophonist Isaac Birituro and UK singer-songwriter and producer Sonny Johns AKA The Rail Abandon.

Having won hearts and minds with their 2019 album "Kalba", where proceeds were put towards building a school in the Ghanain village of the same name, the project also received radio play and DJ support from Gilles Peterson, Huey Morgan, Cerys Matthews, Tom Ravenscroft and many more on BBC 6Music as well as a host of DJs and tastemakers worldwide.

"Shine Up" is the first taste of the forthcoming "Lapaz EP", and despite the hurdles of pandemics, war and excessive beaurocracy, Sonny and Isaac have continued to make music together, as the former explains:

"In 2019 Isaac applied for a visa to the UK to launch his album and play his music from the small village of Saru in north Ghana. The UK government however had different ideas, for a number of vague reasons. Apparently have a large extended family isn’t enough for them to think you’re going to return. We got the impression that being a self-employed musician also counted against him - something I know many UK musicians would understand - but we refused to let distance get in the way of us making music."

Regardless of these obstacles, "Shine Up" provides a positive message that is much needed in 2022, that "sometimes we find it easier to see what’s wrong in our lives and think that the grass is greener; that it’s easier to blame other people and put it down to always having bad luck than it is to stand up and do something. We may not have complete control over our lives but we can still enlighten ourselves, make changes for the better and do something about the things we can control."

An uplifting sentiment and some inspirative music to warm us up for more to come from Isaac Birituro & The Rail Abandon this spring.