Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair

Every now and again a band, an artist, or indeed a collective appears on the music scene. They have broken away from their comfort zone, embraced other influences and new ways of working and create something new, unique and enticing. Such is the case with Hercules and Love Affair. The brainchild of NYC based DJ Andrew Butler, on this debut album he is the creative lead, in writing of songs and choice of collaborators.

What is obvious from the off is that this is a labour of love. There is a palpable sense of tenderness and care taken to each song of the album. From the opening strains of ‘Time Will’ with its soothingly seductive synth and hypnotic vocals of Antony Hegarty, DIY knows it is not listening to a conventional ‘dance’ record.

This album is like a kaleidoscope of sounds, samples and harmony. ‘Hercules’ Theme’ is classic and grown up disco, that snare drum sound making the shoulders move effortlessly; ‘You Belong’ has a more repetitive charm but displays an ability for electronic sounds to come together and sound almost organic, Nomi’s vocals adding a breathy, almost erotic quality.

This is more of a laid back dance album and at times is simply too chilled out for its own good. ‘Athene’ is much more conventional and doesn’t have the sense of wonder or direction shown elsewhere. ‘Easy’ also falls into the same trap, its meandering melody almost plods, and even some drama from Hegarty’s vocals can’t rescue this hum drum track.

However these criticisms are easily forgotten with the electro-pop master class of lead single ‘Blind’. This song gets better with each listen and is a fusion of emotive vocals and delectable melody. This is the song that kick started this project and its influence is easy to see on other songs on the album. ‘This Is My Love’ is a wonderfully off kilter pop number, featuring lead vocals from Butler. A highly personal song, it is confident, slightly experimental and even gets away with some flourishes of jazz thrown in. ‘Raise Me Up’ is another high point; infectious from the start it is a veritable treasure trove of samples, Christmas bells and Hegarty’s soaringly romantic voice.

While the album may end on the slightly odd and Muppet-influenced (we’re not joking) ‘True/False Fake/Real’ this, overall, is a feast of sounds. Confident, fresh and strange in all the right ways, it’s genre bashing at its best. When was the last time that you heard a mostly electronic record that made you feel, made you think and made you want to dance at the same time? This is no small achievement and done with apparent ease, simply ace.