Strength in Numbers

The exuberant, self-titled debut album from Hercules and Love Affair, the heroically named dance-music project led by longtime New York DJ Andrew Butler, lives up to the lofty expectations its mythical moniker entails. One of the most lauded dance records of the year thus far, it deftly melds Butler’s twin loves of disco and early house music with his affection for ’80s synth pop snaking in underneath it all.

And Butler’s emphasis on the fusion of live and electronic elements has made Hercules and Love Affair one of a rare breed of dance-music groups whose performances offer vastly more than drum machines and samples. Though some songs rely on guitar or bass and keyboards with programmed drums, on much of the record, Butler and his crew embrace a sweeping, orchestrated approach, with trumpet, trombone and strings building a lush backdrop for soaring vocals.

“I wanted this authentic disco production where tons of people came together to make something really spirited and beautiful,” Butler said of his collaborations on the album.

What would eventually become Hercules and Love Affair’s first full-length grew out of a single track, “Blind,” which Butler recorded with Antony Hegarty (of the cabaret-influenced, chamber-pop group Antony and the Johnsons), almost six years ago. Fortuitously, Butler met the soon-to-be-famous falsetto-voiced singer through mutual friends at a Russian diner in the East Village long before Hegarty won the Mercury Prize for the stunning I Am a Bird Now.

“He mentioned kind of sheepishly, ‘Oh yeah, I’m a singer,’” Butler remembered. “And a couple weeks later I got to hear a recording of his, and I was like ‘Oh my God … he’s so much more than just a singer.’”

The two bonded over ’80s British groups like the Cocteau Twins and Yaz, and Hegarty’s tales of early-’90s New York club culture fascinated the disco-obsessed Butler, a self-described “DJ-history nerd.”

“Eventually, I asked him if he would be interested in experimenting with putting his voice against this sort of synthetic background,” Butler said.

After the initial recording of “Blind,” Butler created remix after remix of the track and slowly cobbled together additional tracks like the synth-heavy “Time Will.” He also began collaborating with DJ and singer Kim Ann Foxman, who shared his love of house music and had been a cohort in throwing parties at the infamous now-defunct East Village dive bar The Hole.

“Kim Ann in a weird way was like my first real audience,” Butler said. “She’d just want to hang out while I was making tracks, and it happened organically. I said, ‘I really need to hear a voice on this track. Will you just get up and sing?’ She was kind of shy at first, but before I knew it, she was singing on a bunch of different tracks.”

Though Foxman had sung in a previous electronic music project, this was one of her first forays into full melody lines, according to Butler. In contrast, the other female vocalist on Hercules and Love Affair’s debut, Nomi (who, like Antony, goes by her first name), is a seasoned singer who comes from a hip-hop and soul background and has performed with CocoRosie and Debbie Harry.

Hegarty originally suggested that Butler present “Blind” itself to a label, but ultimately Butler decided to pursue releasing a full record instead of a single. He brought a demo to the dance-music haven DFA Records, and the label’s legendary producer and co-owner Tim Goldsworthy, recognizing Butler’s talent, signed on to co-produce and release the album.

When Hercules and Love Affair embarked on a tour in support of the record, Butler wanted performances to be as live and organic as possible, keeping the use of samples to a minimum. To that end, the onstage cast of Hercules and Love Affair numbers eight, including both Foxman and Nomi (who sing Hegarty’s parts, since he doesn’t perform with the group); a rhythm section consisting of Butler on keyboards, another keyboardist, a drummer and a bassist, as well as a trumpeter and a trombonist.

Although Butler said that after dozens of live shows, this incarnation of Hercules and Love Affair feels more like a live band than a recording project, the lineup for future recordings could be dramatically different.

“I’m treating it as a vehicle to realize the songs that I’ve written. …I talk about it as a project,” Butler said. “I wanted to keep the focus on the music and less focused on the personalities behind the music. I’ve always admired a band like Massive Attack and a lot of bands and producers from the ’90s—there was an open door for different singers to come in and participate. Having said this, so much of this was built out of working with friends, and I want to keep it that way as much as possible, but with new presences always welcome.”

August 8, The Fillmore NY at Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Pl. (at 15th St.), 212-777-6800; 8, $20.