Yours truly had heard many a positive thing about Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, a group of musicians who accidentally got to know each other in the refugee camps in Guinea where they ended up after being on the run from the violence of the civil war in their homeland Sierra Leone, and it has to be said, their mix of Congolese soukous, rumba, reggae and a slew of other genres is contagious. The lyrics in pidgin English hardly make any sense at times ("A global warming is on the threat" from 'Global Threat'), but that's something we won't hold against them as the messages the All Stars put in their songs are simple and come straight from the heart. 'Rise & Shine' is Sierra Leone's Refugee All Star's second album and is dedicated to Idrissa 'Bongo' Mallam Bangura, the band's bass player who passed away in 2009.