Hercules and Love Affair–s/t
Generally, I’m not much into the 70’s disco sound. Sure, I have a CD or two, but mostly to put on when people start bitching at my parties that all of my music is making them depressed. Nevertheless, I must admit to having a surprising affinity for Hercules and Love Affair. Part of that is no doubt due to the perfect milky vocals of Antony Hegarty, but that’s not all there is here. Andrew Butler’s compositions take the best of those 70s sounds and give them just enough of a tweak to make them fun again. There are real melodies with interesting turns that feel completely correct, and though things occasionally sound a little trash-synthy there is also some real musicianship that pulls everything back to level. This is a very fun summer album, and it is seeing more play at Chez Howell than anything of its sort has seen in a very long time. If you haven’t heard the single Blind, then go find it–it’s all over the web. Here I’ll post the opening track.