Life isn’t fair. There’s never enough money, never enough time and everyone is always getting screwed by the record labels.
New York-based dance-auteur band Hercules and Love Affair has been screwed just the same by its label, with the band’s long-awaited sophomore album Blue Songs finally hitting shelves in the U.S. after a U.K. release way back in January.
As dark as the group’s first, self-titled LP was at times, Blue Songs is even darker still. The first record was all about uniting disco rhythms with a modern sense of rhythm. Blue Songs is similar, although band leader Andy Butler seems considerably more obsessed with old-school house music than disco on this record.
The obvious example is “My House,” which feels like some long-lost single from the mid-1980s. It’s not the catchiest song but one that grows on the listener, a testament to the more complicated undertones not usually found in house music.
Tracks such as “Leonora” are haunting and brooding, and beg repeat listens. Check out “Falling” or the New Order-coping “Painted Eyes” to hear the band at the top of its game.
Most noticeable between the first album and Blue Songs is the loss of some of the guest singers from Hercules and Love Affair, namely Antony Hegarty and Nomi Ruiz. Kim Ann Foxman makes a return, however, most noticeably on intense album closer “It’s Alright.”
Any fan of DFA Records’ style (think LCD Soundsystem and YACHT) will very much enjoy Hercules and Love Affair’s second record. The group has again crafted a fantastic set of songs.
The record label may have gotten in the way but good music can survive almost anything. Whether you already downloaded the UK version or you waited until now for the US copy, Blue Songs deserves a few more listens.
Let the affair continue.
RATING: 3.5 stars our of 5
berman@umdbk.com
