‘Hibiki’ is the Japanese word for ‘harmony’ (it’s also a brand of outstanding whisky distilled by Suntory, but that’s for another time) and there’s something appropriately (and deeply) harmonious about this collaboration of three female Japanese stars.

Thanks to Taiko Sato’s spacey vibraphone, there’s something of an ‘exotica’ vibe (see what I did there?) to this recording. ‘Exotica’ is a style pioneered in the 1950s and 60s by Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and Juan Garcia Esquivel; it enjoyed something a revival in the 1990s and early noughties when 'easy listening', ‘lounge’ and ‘space age bachelor pad’ music were in vogue.

But while defiantly ‘space age’ in its atmosphere, there’s nothing laid-back about this 21st century exotica – Oshima’s thunderous drums add dark power to the proceedings, and Saito’s cosmic vibes create an eerie, Outer Limits/Twilight Zone sci-fi ambience. In addition, Hibiki’s six tracks are spacious as well as spacey (the opening title track’s first minute is imperceptively quiet) with Fujii’s minimalist piano interventions leaving huge holes for listeners to (rewardingly) fill in for themselves.

Hibiki builds on the work Fujii and Saito did in the duo Futari (they made two splendid albums, Beyond and Underground in 2021 and 2022 respectively) and the addition of a drummer adds real heft to their ruminations. More please.