Hercules & Love Affair have announced a first album in five years, ‘In Amber’.
Set to arrive on 17th June via BMG records, the news comes alongside ‘Grace’, the first track to be released from the record.
“Across this record, there are emotional fields I hadn’t ventured into previously with Hercules & Love Affair,” says Andy Butler. “Destruction, rage, loss, but also redemption and journeying towards empowerment are all touchstones on the album. It has taken years to make, but I am happy to put it forward now, at a moment in time where we have all been confronted with such heightened feelings collectively and on an unprecedented scale”.
“In dance music, the focus tends to be more on celebration, joy, desire, heartbreak,” he continues. “But rage? Existential contemplation? Not so much…certain emotions seemed to be off limits”.
Reuniting with ANOHNI for the first time since 2008’s eponymous debut, Butler reveals: “In some ways, ‘In Amber’ is a record I didn’t know I had in me. From singing out, to suggesting to get Budgie (from Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Creatures fame) to participate, to derailing some of the arrangements for more impact – ANOHNI definitely pulled much of it out of me.”
“As an artist that has always puts my personal lived experience forward in my work, not to mention the chaos of living through these recent times, I could not in good conscience make something comfortable,” Butler concludes. “I needed to express my discomfort. Making a 90’s sounding techno or house record, or an odd 80’s sounding dance track was not anything I needed to do”.
