Hercules & Love Affair Releases New 'Danseur PT 1' EP

Andy Butler today releases Danseur PT 1, the first installment of Hercules & Love Affair's two-part Danseur EP, via Stratasonic Records. Featuring the singles "I Get High," "My Journey," "The Eyes of Love," and a cover of Book of Love's "Boy," the four-track release continues Butler's exploration of queer history through the language of the dancefloor.

Danseur PT 1 boldly moves like a resident DJ set from one of the legendary clubs it is indebted to. From the peaks of "I Get High" and "My Journey" to the moodiness of "The Eyes of Love" and Butler's cover of Book of Love's "Boy," the EP channels the worlds of Blitz and Taboo through the people who helped define them.

The body of work is dedicated to Taboo resident DJ Jeffrey Hinton, whose artwork from his personal archive appears throughout the physical release, and both he and Princess Julia—the Blitz Kid, DJ, fashion icon, and unforgettable face of Visage's "Fade to Grey"—are featured in discussion with Andy in the EP's accompanying artwork designed by Josh Quinton. Butler's promotional photography references iconic portraits from the period. There is also a Q&A between Andy and the Pet Shop Boys that discusses how synthesizer music changed things for them and the world. Rather than treating these touchstones as nostalgic inspiration, Butler reconnects them with the present, bringing the original architects of the scene into dialogue with a modern record.

Danseur PT 1 Tracklist (OUT NOW)

1. My Journey (ft. Hips & Lips)

2. I Get High (ft. Hips & Lips)

3. The Eyes of Love (ft. Hips & Lips)

4. Boy (ft. Hips & Lips)

Danseur PT 2 Tracklist (OUT SEPTEMBER 10)

1. Pirouette (ft. Faris Badwan)

2. Heaven (ft. Faris Badwan)

3. Night on the Town (ft. Hips & Lips)

4. Flip Flop (ft. Albrecht Van Doornik)

Across Danseur, Butler tells a series of deeply personal stories drawn from LGBTQ life. The songs move from the earth-shaking coming out depicted in “My Journey” to the tragic yet hopeful narrative of “The Eyes of Love,” inspired by Butler’s own life, in which two men find each other before the looming shadow of HIV interrupts their honeymoon. Butler’s cover of Book of Love’s “Boy” pays tribute to New York’s iconic BoyBar, while “Night on the Town” captures two women in the ’60s living proudly. “Pirouette” closes the project in tribute to SOPHIE and Butler’s longtime collaborator Aerea Negrot, who passed within months of one another.

Like last year’s Someone Else Is Calling project, Danseur was created alongside Elín Ey of Hips & Lips and Quinn Whalley of Paranoid London, continuing the chemistry the trio found through their shared love of acid house, disco, and darker music. Across the full two-part EP, Butler is taking listeners on a journey through the sounds of different institutions, carrying forward the emotional current that has run through Hercules & Love Affair since the 2008 classic “Blind,” with ANOHNI. Danseur PT 2 will further expand the project with contributions from Faris Badwan of The Horrors and Albrecht Van Doornik.

Butler’s music has long held the respect of house music’s foundational figures, with past Hercules & Love Affair work being remixed by legends including Frankie Knuckles and Larry Heard. Butler has spent nearly two decades using Hercules & Love Affair to explore queer identity, intimacy, and the emotional pull of house music.

Hercules & Love Affair’s Danseur PT 1 is out now. Danseur PT 2 is out September 10.