Hercules & Love Affair – Blue Songs

Releasedate: 31-01-2011; Label: Mosh Moshi
By: Brandy Cross

Hercules & Love Affair is a three piece pop/disco band out of New York City. The band came out in 2008 with a self-titled album that reached the number 40 charts in several countries. Their hit single ‘Blind’ reached #12 on the Italy Singles chart in 2008.

The band’s 2nd album, ‘Blue Songs’ is a distinguished hip-hop/pop/house album that has more than enough for everyone. The opening song, ‘Painted Eyes,’ is a smoky type dance tune with lots of rhythm and effects. I can see this one being popular on the disco floor for a few years. My house is a typical rap/world song, lots of techno influence, and different vocals and probably one of the only songs on the album that doesn’t sound like it was written in 1985. ‘Answers Come in Dreams is a strikes me as sort of a filler. Leonora sounds a lot like an 80’s pop hit, think Duran Duran or the Beastie Boys. Boy Blue is probably one of my favorite tracks off of Blue Songs; it’s a little sad, slow singing, guitars. Then they step right back up into a little hip hop thing called ‘Falling’. ‘I Can’t Wait’ is a bit of a cross between hip hop and rap, another good dance tune, Step up is pretty similar in style but does sound different. ‘Visitor’ is another 80’s type pop song with a little bit of world DJ mix thrown in. Finally the last track, ‘It’s Alright’ ends the album with a slow piano beat, soft female vocals and the refrain “The music plays forever on and on.”
Overall it’s a pretty good album, all of the songs are different, and many of them are slightly different kinds of music. I think the band did a lot of mixing up and just tried to have fun. All in all I think it’s a great follow up album and might even be better than their first.

Line Up:
Andy Butler
Kim Ann Foxman
Mark Pistel

Tracklist: 01. Painted Eyes 02. My House 03. Answers Come In Dreams 04. Leonora 05. Boy Blue 06. Blue Songs 07. Falling 08. I Can’t Wait 09. Step Up 10. Visitor 11. It’s Alright

Links:
Hercules & Love Affair Facebook