In 2008, New York-based DJ Andy Butler, aka Hercules and Love Affair, delivered one of the finest records of the year with his debut album, a superb collection of pulsating nu-disco tunes. His follow-up album, Blue Songs, is released on a different label (Butler having switched from DFA to Moshi Moshi), although he has retained the splendid vocal services of Kim Ann Foxman.
As you might guess from the title, Blue Songs is a slightly more plaintive affair than Hercules’ self-titled debut, with Butler bringing the more melancholic aspects of his music to the fore. In fairness, the producer showed on his first album that he was well capable of marrying dancefloor grooves to emotional catharsis, no more so than on the hugely popular Antony Hegarty collaboration, ‘Blind’. Blue Songs kicks off with the excellent ‘Painted Eyes’, which – thanks to its moody electro flourishes – possesses a darker feel than we have heretofore associated with Hercules, although a typically irresistible Butler bassline (reminiscent of Fad Gadget’s sublime early ’80s classic ‘King Of The Flies’) gives the song wonderful rhythmic panache.
Featuring the punning title ‘My House’, the following track finds Butler paying tribute in considerable style to early ’90s Hacienda favourites such as Manray, Frankie Knuckles, Phuture etc., and its thumping groove is a guaranteed dancefloor filler. Elsewhere on this consistently excellent album, ‘Falling’ is a funk workout with terrifically catchy brass and electro flourishes, ‘I Can’t Wait’ alternates between glitchy beats and a pumping dance rhythm, and ‘Step Up’, featuring one Kele Okereke on vocals, is a terrific piece of pure trance bliss.
Looks like our love affair with Hercules is set to continue.