Tomoyasu Hotei’s fist international album release, Strangers, is a perfect road-trip album, the soundtrack to a film in your head that you’ll wish was real.

Cinematic in scope, flow and construction, there’s never a moment where you don’t feel guided by the hands of a master. Play this album loud while you’re on the highway to anywhere, and you’ll get the full effect.

Perfectly balanced between Hotei’s ferocity and gentle glide, the album splits its tracks between purely instrumental pieces and guest-vocal tracks. “Medusa” leads off the album with a straightforward drive, a series of escalating riffs that smartly doesn’t push the energy too high, but gets us settled in for the ride.