Rare composer David Wise announces original music album

Donkey Kong Country composer David Wise has announced a new original music album, which he’ll be producing with fellow Rare alumni Kev Bayliss.

Salamandos is described as a “collectable album” featuring “original characters and tunes” from the pair.

Bayliss and Wise call Salamandos “an exciting new project… to celebrate making video games for over 30 years!”

David Wise is known for his time at Rare producing music for the likes of Battletoads, Star Fox Adventures and Diddy Kong Racing, as well as the titular Donkey Kong Country series.

In more recent years, Wise has created the scores for Retro’s Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Sumo’s Snake Pass.

Kev Bayliss is a veteran character artist, known for creating the cast in Battletoads, Killer Instinct, Diddy Kong Racing and more.

Bayliss also has a singing career alongside his game work and has appeared in a band with Wise.

Bayliss and Wise recently worked together on Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, a “platforming adventure hybrid” releasing on October 8 for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam.