Hercules And Love Affair  April 21, 2008

Say hello to your new favourite band...

The brainchild of DJ Andy Butler, Hercules And Love Affair is Butler's multi layered and ominous brand of dark disco manifested by players as diverse as Antony Hegarty (Antony and The Johnsons), Tyler Pope (!!!), and Tim Goldsworthy of DFA. As measured and confident a debut as you'll see all year this eponymous debut boldly straddles the line between an album of "set the mood" party jams and a headphone album of 5am bliss outs. Such is the album's appeal and its core contradiction - I happened to hear tracks from the album on four separate occasions in various clubs over the weekend ("Blind" being the main offender) yet I also listened to tracks off the album (including Blind) on my ipod before I drifted off to sleep. Its rhythm section roots it instantly in danceable territory appealing to DJ's who want to get bodies in motion (half the appeal I think is in hearing Antony's unique voice in the setting of a commercial club). Yet I get the feeling that music nerds alike will be just as likely to incessantly digest and deconstruct the peeling melodies, skittering drums and pulsating bass lines that this album delivers in spades. Paved by the rise of Italo Disco in contemporary club music, the high propensity of dance acts to name check Moroder, and the success of disco loving James Murphy and his 2007 offering Sound Of Silver - it seems that disco is well and truly back. This album has already received critical acclaim with indie stalwarts such as Pitchfork and was even featured in the runway shows of three high profile houses (Dior, Chanel, and Versace). As the name suggests this album conjures up images of sordid affairs and drugged out decadence - and yes, there is a glaringly obvious stylistic focus throughout the album (with most critics referencing one genre and one genre alone - and that is disco. Yes it has strings, yes it has horns, yes it has handclaps, and yes it has splashy hats but I haven't heard anything remotely like this before - whether it was made 30 years ago or 30 seconds ago. This is the sound of disco in the year 2050 and to tell you the truth, the future has never sounded so good...

Check out the video for lead single "Blind"