In order for any album to be worth its weight in salt, it needs to be a good driving record. You need to be able to pop the disc into your car stereo, turn up the volume as loud as you want to (with no fear of annoying the neighbors), and just go, seemingly propelled along by the music that’s washing over you. The better the song is, the more the volume and your velocity increases. With a band name as highly suggestive as Motorifik, it would seem fitting that their intoxicating debut record, Secret Things, would make the perfect sonic accompaniment to any type of drive.

And while it clearly fits the criteria mentioned above, the album also swings wildly from style to style while wearing their assorted influences proudly, as Motorifik seamlessly switches up both their sound and structure, giving the record a diverse, distinct essence, akin to switching stations on the radio. That disparate sound is surely due to the varied musical sources that Working For A Nuclear Free City’s Phil Kay consistently draws from, while factoring in the multifarious approach that French songwriter Idrisse Khelifi assuredly brings to the group.

Secret Things kicks off with the Ronettes-like beat of the title track, with the familiar jangly guitar of early shoegaze mixed in amongst the swelling wall of sound. It’s a warm, inviting song that eases you into the record, but doesn’t truly give away what the rest of the album sounds like. ‘The Cause’ has some tricky Motown rhythms mixed with soaring strings, while ‘Ghosts’ has elegant hints of Echo & the Bunnymen layered within its dreamy soundscape. But not all of Motorifik’s influences are ancient, as ‘Strange Weather’ is injected with the insistent pulse of Foals, while ‘A Vision’ and ‘Nostalgie’ both echo the wistful nature of Doves. But that’s not to dismiss any of this as being plainly derivative, for there is plenty of originality to be found within the texture and tone of these stirring numbers.

The plaintive piano of ‘Used Angel’ nicely compliments the Latin-flavored tempo of the track, giving the song a dynamic appeal and a spare sophistication. And ‘Sleep Forever’ is a lovely, hypnotic number that only gets better on repeat plays, as the many subtle but sprawling layers of the song gradually reveal themselves to the listener. That entrancing spirit continues on the album closer ‘Flames On The Ocean,’ which begins as a pensive acoustic track before swelling into an astral melody that ends the record in a truly majestic manner.

Secret Things is clearly a winding, exploratory journey into the past, present and future of music, with many piercing sonic revelations thrown in along the way. And while the road Motorifik are taking seems awfully familiar and well-worn at times, that doesn’t mean the songs don’t beg to be turned up loud as you assertively put the pedal down.