Hercules And Love Affair

HHHH Omnion MR INTERNATIONAL. CD/DL/LP Dance music for head and heart, as well as feet. Andy Butler has always fused vintage dance modes with parallel post-punkgothic influences from his youth. Hence his Anohnifronted debut single Blind and John Grant’s brooding confession I Try To Talk To You. While Omnion doesn’t stint on sleek, percolating rhythms, HALA’s fourth album sounds shadowed by sobriety, in light of global and personal meltdown. Are You Still Certain? was inspired by 2015’s Paris and Beirut bombings; Butler grabs the mike himself for Fools Wear Crowns, referencing the drug-induced crisis that momentarily derailed the HALA train. Faris Badwan (The Horrors) and Sharon Van Etten front throbbing Controller and the doleful title track respectively; Lebanese singer Hamed Sinno trades verses on Are You Still Certain? with returning Butler sidekick Rouge Mary – who also projects diva ferocity on Rejoice. As ever, Butler weaves these disparate ups and downs without visible joins. Martin Aston