Hercules & Love Affair have been catapulted into the consciousness of both critics and fans alike with their stellar self-titled debut album. ITM caught up with Andrew Butler, the mastermind behind the DFA signed band as they were in transit somewhere between Berlin and Amsterdam.

Despite touring nonstop for most of the year, “playing maybe 10 to 15 festivals”, Butler says he’s still excited about their Australian tour as part of the NeverEverLand festival. “I feel it’s a smart sort of lineup, we have a more direct musical relationship to the other bands that we are playing with,” he told ITM. Both Hercules & Love Affair’s album and Cut Copy’s In Ghost Colours were produced by Tim Goldsworthy, Butler recalls. “It’s exciting to be playing with Cut Copy and The Presets cause those guys are on the same page, we get them.”

Part of their album’s charm is its amalgamation of early house and techno, as well as disco with a modern pop sensibility. You Belong sounds like Inner City channeled through Arthur Baker era New Order. The albums most prominent single Blind features the vocals of Antony Hegarty, has a vintage feel of syncopated house beats and an uplifting horn section, combined with its timeless lyrics. “If there is any labour of Hercules that’s referenced on the whole album at all, it would just be Hercules’ Theme.” Butler describes the song, “where I wanted evoke the feeling of a chorus of amazons sing back at Hercules”.

Butler describes his creative process as, “starting with the rhythm; starting with the beat and the bassline. Build the harmonic structure from the bassline up, the melodies comes after”. He labels his lyrics as, “cryptic poetry you know; there might be a really loose story, something that makes sense, that you can follow along.”

The group is part of an ever increasing group of musicians and delving into disco music for inspiration. “I personally responded so much to it [disco] and think that it’s a really colourful exciting form of music and one that should be appreciated”. In some ways it’s a return to the genesis of modern dance music, where DJ pioneers like David Mancuso, Larry Levan and Nicky Siano among many others played a mixture of funk, soul, disco, new wave and pop music. It’s this diversity that makes the album so refreshing. Without necessarily intending to, their music is a primer to those unfamiliar with the origins of dance music. “There was no intent really [to educate people about disco], I think disco is an under appreciated form of music. People didn’t take it serious for a long time. It was over exposed and we were oversaturated with disco music in the late 70s. It accompanied a time we wanted to forget. Sometimes homophobia and racism pops into my mind when I think about why people were rejected. It sounds like there was an agenda in my answer,” he laughs.

Despite only being a touring band since May, they’ve playing sold out shows around the world. “It’s very live, there’s not many samples involved in the whole thing at all,” says Butler, said dispelling any idea they’re relying on a computer-generated backing track, “There are some trigger samples but nothing done to track”. The list of musicians they tour with is extensive. “We have a rhythm section that includes a drummer a bassists and drum machines, like old digital drum machines, vintage keyboards, horn section: a trumpet and trombone, and two vocalists.”

Hercules & Love Affair’s album is out now through DFA/EMI. Don’t forget you can catch them at Nevereverland this month:

Sat Dec 13 – Hordern & Surrounds, Sydney
Sun Dec 14 – Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne
Sat Dec 20 – Riverstage, Brisbane
Sun Dec 21 – Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth