page_title: Hercules and Love Affair
section_title: 2011–2014: Blue Songs and The Feast of the Broken Heart
hierarchical_section_title: Hercules and Love Affair / History / 2011–2014: Blue Songs and The Feast of the Broken Heart
caption_attribution_description: English: Antony Hegarty performing his hit song "Blind" as a part of the Hercules and Love Affair collective on Monday 06 August 2012 at the Southbank Centre's Meltdown Festival which he had curated.
context_page_description: Hercules & Love Affair is a dance music project created by American DJ Andy Butler in 2004. Consisting of a rotating cast of performers and musicians, the band work within the genres of house music, disco, techno and nu-disco.
  Originally based in New York City, now based in Ghent, Belgium, Hercules and Love Affair were founded following Butler's collaboration with Anohni to produce the song "Blind", which was a hit single. Initially signing to DFA Records, for their eponymous 2008 debut album, the band went on to record two more albums for Moshi Moshi, Blue Songs and The Feast of the Broken Heart. Their fourth album Omnion was released in September 2017 by Atlantic Records.
context_section_description: 2011 saw the release of Hercules and Love Affair's second album, Blue Songs, brought out by independent British label Moshi Moshi. Butler remained in control, joined by Mark Pistel, and Kim Ann Foxman returned, however it also featured two new main vocalists, Shaun Wright and Aerea Negrot. One of the songs, "Step Up", contained guest vocals from Kele Okereke, the lead singer of indie rock band Bloc Party. The album's title was chosen by Butler to reflect his own "blue period" during adolescence, before he discovered the existence of like-minded people through music.
  Shortly after the album's release, Butler attracted the attention of the music press when he informed Out magazine that Madonna should "make an age-appropriate record that still appeals to young people" while being scathing of Lady Gaga, asserting that she was producing "children's music... It's middle-aged gay men dancing around to music for 11-year-old girls." As a result of the stress and pressure of the band's success, Butler began making increased use of drugs, and in an attempt to get clean he moved from New York City to Vienna in Austria. As he told a journalist from The Guardian: "It was a need, because I was going way too fast and I was going to self-destruct. It had to get really bad before it got OK."
  In August 2012, Hercules and Love Affair played at the Meltdown Festival at London's Southbank Centre, which was curated by Anohni. For their performance of "Blind", she joined them onstage to provide the vocals; the first time that she had performed the song live with the band. At that performance, they were also joined onstage by singer John Grant, who publicly stated for the first time that he was HIV positive; Butler later stated that "I thought it was one of the bravest things I've ever seen a person do".
  The band's third album, The Feast of the Broken Heart, was released by Moshi Moshi in May 2014. Describing the album, Butler stated that "I wanted nasty basslines, stormy, bleary-eyed sounds, fiery, rough, tough and ragged old school house productions that sounded almost techno. I didn't want polite, I wanted aggressive". In a conscious change from the previous two albums, he did not make use of organic instrumentation. When recording the first songs for the album, Butler had stated his intention not to use any well-known vocalists for the album, because he believed that – as with Anohni and Okereke – they would be too busy to tour with the band. However, when the album was released, it received guest vocals from Grant, who sang on "Liberty" and "I Try To Talk To You", in which he dealt with the issue of being HIV positive. Also singing on the album were Rouge Mary, Gustaph, and Krystle Warren, with Butler informing The New York Times that that line-up constituted "the best ensemble of vocalists I've had."
  In July 2014, the band performed at East London's Lovebox Festival. In August, the band generated some controversy with the release of the video for their song "My Offence" which featured excerpts of conversation with figures from the New York City gay scene like Honey Dijon and Juliana Huxtable. Butler described the song and its video as an examination of his "relationship to taboo words and the use of 'cunt' amongst NYC's gay community to relay flattery, empowerment and strength". In December 2014, Hercules and Love Affair performed in Thailand at Wonderfruit festival.
caption: Anohni performing "Blind" as a part of the Hercules and Love Affair collective during the 2012 Meltdown Festival at London's Southbank Centre.
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