For Tom Close, the release of his latest album Sunshine is more than another addition to his catalogue. It is a return to a sound, a generation of collaborators and an era that helped shape his identity as one of Rwanda’s pioneering modern musicians.

The 16-track album, released on August 25, brings together the R&B singer with several hip-hop artistes he worked with during the early stages of his career, including Khalfan, Jay C, Green P, P-Fla and Bull Dogg.

The project features Agaca with Khalfan and Jay C, Cana Itara featuring Green P and P-Fla, Cinema with Bull Dogg, as well as Niyo Ikamena, Rotate (Rotete), Diana, I Want It All, Look at Me and For You (Ferrari).

For Tom Close, whose career dates back to the mid-2000s, the choice of collaborators was deliberate.

"I wanted to go back to my roots and revisit the kind of music I was making during the peak years of my career. That is also why I chose to work exclusively with hip-hop artistes on this project. Hip-hop and R&B have always worked well together, and these are artistes I worked with during that period, so it felt right to reconnect with that era,” he told The New Times.

The album brings together artistes associated with the period when R&B and hip-hop dominated Rwanda’s contemporary music scene.

"Most of these artistes are from the old school. They are people I worked with during that period of my career, so bringing them onto this project was part of my desire to reconnect with those roots,” he said.

That approach gives Sunshine a different character from his previous album, Essence, released in 2023.

But while the album looks back musically, its message is firmly rooted in the present. Tom Close says he wanted to give listeners something uplifting and hopeful.

"I make music because I always have a message I want to communicate. I have many songs with different themes, and I choose what to release based on the message I feel I need to share at a particular time. With this album, I wanted to communicate hope,” he said.

"Most of the songs are feel-good music, and there are only a few love songs. The rest are meant to encourage people and give them hope.”

Songs that waited for years

Although Sunshine is a new album, some of its material has been waiting for years.

Tom Close says several songs were written or produced between eight and 10 years ago, with some dating back more than a decade.

"There is even a song that was originally produced by Dr Jacques, but we never got the opportunity to finish it. We have now completed it with other producers. Dr Jacques passed away more than 10 years ago, so bringing that song back also carries a piece of that history,” he said.

Tom Close first emerged on Rwanda’s music scene in the mid-2000s and became one of the defining R&B voices of his generation. His breakthrough came in the late 2000s before he became the first winner of the Primus Guma Guma Super Star competition in 2011.

Nearly two decades into his career, however, he says Sunshine is less about nostalgia than communicating something meaningful.

"Although the overall concept of the album is not based on my personal experiences, I have sometimes found myself living through situations that I had already written about in my songs. It is interesting to look back and realise that I had somehow captured an experience before actually going through it myself.”

‘Music is still my business’

Tom Close has spent much of the past decade balancing music with his medical career, but insists his reduced presence on the music scene does not mean he has abandoned it.

"Even though I have a completely different career outside music, I still consider music a business. It is not just a hobby for me.”

The artiste, whose real name is Thomas Muyombo, studied medicine before joining Rwanda’s blood transfusion services. He currently serves as Blood Transfusion Division Manager at Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC).

He says pursuing both careers was partly about giving back to a country that supported his education.

"I wanted to serve a country that had trusted me and supported my education, and that is why I chose to pursue both careers.”

He also wants to challenge perceptions about musicians.

"At the same time, I wanted to challenge the stereotype that an artiste is simply someone who entertains people and has nothing else going on in their life.”

For now, Sunshine is his priority, but he has not ruled out returning to the stage more regularly.

"I may return to the stage and start performing concerts again in the future because it has been quite some time.”

He is not rushing the comeback.

"For now, my focus is on giving my fans new music. As we move forward, other things that demonstrate that I am still active in music will follow. For now, I want people to enjoy the music.”