Hercules & Love Affair

Hercules & Love Affair is the vision of Andy Butler, an artist who has continually synthesized and twisted strains of house and pop to explore queer identity and intimacy with a varying cast of fellow songwriters, producers, singers, and instrumentalists. The group made a surprising commercial breakthrough with their second single, the Anohnii-fronted "Blind" (2008), a number 40 U.K. pop hit inspired by Butler's experience as a gay man who grew up alienated only to experience other forms of distress as a liberated adult. Although house music is based on club play and singles, Hercules & Love Affair have thrived with longer formats. Butler and his collaborators have emphasized highly personal songwriting as well as detailed production on their self-titled debut (2008), The Feast of the Broken Heart (2014), Omnion (2017), In Amber (2022), and the Danseur EPs (2026).