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In these trying times we could all do with a some relief - a little pick-me-up to get us through the day. When we're feeling blue, throwing on some classic Rareware tunes from the likes of Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie perks us up no end.

As luck would have it, both composers behind those winners feature on the soundtracks to Yooka-Laylee and its more recent sequel Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair from Playtonic Games. After time in the relative wilderness both OSTs are now available across a range of digital storefronts and streaming platforms (Apple, Spotify, Amazon, etc) thanks to music label Materia Collective.

The original game's soundtrack recently became unavailable after releasing back in 2017, and the sequel's OST was only available via Bandcamp until now, so it's great to see the original returning and the latter getting wider distribution. Davis Wise and Grant Kirkhope weren't alone in composing the restorative tunes for Playtonic's duo; they were joined by fellow ex-Rare veteran Steve Burke for the first game and Playtonic's own Matt Griffin and Dan Murdoch in the sequel.

We're big fans of both games' soundtracks, and highlighted the music in our reviews. Here's a excerpt from our The Impossible Lair review discussing its brilliance:

...ex-Rare composers David Wise and Grant Kirkhope [...] aid the core Playtonic audio team of Dan Murdoch and Matt Griffin with some career-best music. Almost every single track is a winner (our particular favourite is the 'frozen' version of Frantic Fountains) and it's amazing to hear how themes change when level states are altered.

And here's a look at the digital covers:

Will you be cheering yourself up with either (or both) of these delightful soundtracks? Let us know with a GUH-HUH! below.