DFA introduces Andrew Butler, a compelling new voice in American dance music. His debut album is a self-contained, self-assured set that runs vintage styles through a restless compositional imagination to create something joyfully, startlingly unique.
Hercules & Love Affair is a testament to the great foresight and control is required in a disco producer to keep the track from lunging into an abyss of low-blow kitsch, and to be able to stimulate the ears and feet at the same time.
Hercules and Love Affair is relentlessly listenable (the group’s songs are too good to be classified as tributes), but it’s nevertheless defined by the inspirational pull of a golden age that’s gone.
DJ/producer Andrew Butler mixes the poetic Apollonian aspects of queer culture with the Dionysian party represented by left-field disco and hypnotic early house, and crafts an unsettling masterpiece that yearns and churns and ultimately pulls the rug from under your dancing feet.
For now ... this is a very fine record. Not Herculean exactly, but certainly something that NME loves.
As much joy as you can hear in Hercules and Love Affair, it’s impossible to separate the melancholy from the mix.
Heard this for the first time about a year ago and was enamored by several tracks. Have revisited regularly to find a much higher level of consistency than I first thought. Weak links like Easy and True False/Fake Real do very little to detract from how good this album really is. It absolutely feels like one time lightning in a bottle and I’m so glad it exists. Growing into a personal favorite and suspect it could join my 100s in due time. Sorry my upcoming TLDR sums up the album totally ... read more
Every song has the same groove to it. EVERY. SONG. It's painfully average to boot.
This is like if Of Montreal didn't try, and Danny Elfman's long lost brother was the vocalist.
I was able to guess each song within the first few seconds.
Very unfortunate dance pop.
HUUUUGELY underrated in music spheres, the grooves on a bulk of these tracks are immaculate. It’s a shame that he’s never really released something that matches this, and that this continues to fly under so many radars.
Standout: Blind
Favs: Time Will, Hercules Theme, Raise me up, This is my love
Least fav: Easy
Having grown with this side of ANOHNI since young, I was amazed at how flexible her music styles could get after she debuted with Anthony and The Johnsons.
The Good: This album certainly has some Indietronic bangers that surpass a lot of what was being left out at the time, with some exceptions of bands like Hot Chip.
The Bad: Good songs don't make a good album necesarily. HLA can be so inconsistent after Blind ends that the magic dies faster than it took to foster.
Pro Tip: Listen only to ... read more
Heard this for the first time about a year ago and was enamored by several tracks. Have revisited regularly to find a much higher level of consistency than I first thought. Weak links like Easy and True False/Fake Real do very little to detract from how good this album really is. It absolutely feels like one time lightning in a bottle and I’m so glad it exists. Growing into a personal favorite and suspect it could join my 100s in due time. Sorry my upcoming TLDR sums up the album totally ... read more
I think it would be hard for a disco lover to not enjoy this record. It's genre revivalism at its best, done very competently by an undeniably talented group of people. It's a record rooted in nostalgia and dancefloor melancholy but bursting with joy and energy at every corner. And although I've heard Hercules and Love Affair never topped this one, they certainly interested me enough to check out the rest of their catalog.
1 | Time Will 4:34 | 82 |
2 | Hercules Theme 4:29 | 86 |
3 | You Belong 4:11 | 86 |
4 | Athene 3:59 | 79 |
5 | Blind 6:18 | 92 |
6 | Iris 4:15 | 69 |
7 | Easy 5:21 | 77 |
8 | This Is My Love 4:58 | 77 |
9 | Raise Me Up 3:51 | 84 |
10 | True False / Fake Real 4:32 | 70 |
#3 | / | Slant |
#4 | / | Resident Advisor |
#9 | / | Pitchfork |
#11 | / | Treble |
#12 | / | FACT Magazine |
#15 | / | A.V. Club |
#19 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#27 | / | NME |
#32 | / | musicOMH |
#33 | / | No Ripcord |