The brainchild of New York-based electronic music producer Andrew Butler and his colorful troupe of pansexual contributors including Mercury Prize-winning gender-bender, Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons), transsexual hip-hop vocalist and CocoRosie collaborator, Nomi, Hawaiian lesbian DJ/jewelry designer, Kim Ann Foxman, and gay B-boy dancer Shayne.

“Raise Me Up”

Hercules and Love Affair’s stunning self-titled debut has been heavily embraced by the UK (and European) press, DJs and tastemaking cognoscenti as one of the most daringly original American dance albums in ages. These accolades are well deserved. The album heaves with clever lyrics, chunky rhythms, starry percussion, radiant synths and strutting basslines fine-tuned for dancefloors. Butler and Co., aided by co-producer/co-arranger Tim Goldsworthy, deliver a scintillating soundtrack, embodying the innovative spirit, buoyant musicality and hedonistic escapism of late ’70s and early ’80s dance music at its zenith. The 10-song set runs through a barrage of vintage styles, creating a startling mosaic, rippling with Salsoul’s sweeping, soulful rhythms, the edgy synth-pop melodies of Yazoo and Fad Gadget, the sleazy coke-spoon disco of Cerrone and Gino Soccio, the spacey weirdness of Arthur Russell and the surging, analog grooves of classic Chicago house. Tracks like the Antony-fronted lead single, “Blind” (which climaxes in a rush of horns, rumbling bass and strings), the irresistibly funky “You Belong” (which echoes Inner City’s legendary “Good Life”), the deliciously opaque “Athene” (a chugging, leftfield abstraction featuring Kim Ann Foxman), “Raise Me Up” and closer “True False, Fake Real” (a soaring cacophony of clattering typewriters, xylophones and euphoric backing vocals) are the most potent inclusions—while the slow-burning and restrained “Time Will” and “Easy” offer a more reflective side of the group. Once again, DFA succeeds in delivering another brilliantly conceived long-player that can pull off the extravagancies of its influences while carefully orchestrating its own resoundingly unique, iridescent sound.