Hotei – Strangers

Hotei began his career back in the 1980’s, this is probably the most successful guitarist you’ve never heard of, he has sold in the region of sixty million records, yes you read that correctly, in his native Japan. He clearly feels that now is the time for him to spread his wings as this is his debut international release. Strangers is a collaborative release that features appearances by some heavyweight guest vocalists from the alternative music scene, including Iggy Pop, Richard Z. Kruspe (Rammstein), Matt Tuck (Bullet For My Valentine), Noko (Apollo 440) and Texan singer Shea Seger.

Opening track Medusa eases you into this sixteen track epic with an atmospheric instrumental that conjures up a contemporary spaghetti western. Iggy Pop makes his appearances on How The Cookie Crumbles and Walking Through The Night, his distinctive vocals add gravel to these stampy pieces of light industrial, unsurprisingly the two tracks Iggy makes his appearances on are amongst the best tracks on the album. Shea Seger demonstrates her vocal talents and brings some sultry bluesy attitude to proceedings on Kill Or Kiss and Texas Groove. In contrast to these pieces it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that the tracks featuring Richard Z. Kruspe are the heaviest on the album, these are quite lightweight compared to his work with Rammstein, then again so are most things.

On this album Hotei comes across as a musical chameleon, changing and adapting his style to those around him. This is an unusual album, each of the tracks appears to have been tailored to the person guesting on it, but the overall theme is a hybrid of rock, electronica and industrial. There are high and low points on this, it resembles the soundtrack to a dystopian sci-fi movie and the whole album sounds slightly dated, in places Hotei doesn’t seem to have been able to move away from his 80’s roots, but the inclusion of a varied and laudable collection of guest vocalists makes this a diverse and interesting album

You can order Strangers here