Andy Butler announced his first Hercules & Love Affair album in five years, to acclaim for the beautifully meditative swoon of first single “Grace.” Hercules & Love Affair & ANOHNI now return with the furious maelstrom of brand new single “Poisonous Storytelling,” also featuring Budgie (Siouxsie and the Banshees) on drums.

The genesis of In Amber was a long held desire to explore emotional fields outside of the well worn tropes in electronic music, as well as a chance to explore a striking new sonic palate. The latest track from the forthcoming album In Amber set for release this summer on Skint/BMG, “Poisonous Storytelling” sees the powerful return of ANOHNI to the Hercules fold. The results are as urgent and potent as ever, as she calls out the insidious misinformation that’s caught the world in its vice-like grip these days, doing its very best to divide rather than unite. 

In Andy Butler’s words: “Poisonous Storytelling” started as a song called ‘Sacral’ – the music evoked sacred rites, but the word ‘Sacral’ also speaks to the one of the sources of our rootedness and stability.”

ANOHNI’s lyrics outline a constellation of systemic brokenness within global society. Addressing cultural narrators, newscasters, film makers and prophets, ANOHNI states: “We must be careful with new narratives, because everyone is rotted out from poisonous storytelling”.

The track also arrives with thrilling remixes from industrial occultist Justin K Broadrick (Godflesh) and the confrontational intensity of techno duo Giant Swan. Broadrick’s interpretation is hauntingly metallic, a mutation of distorted guitars and ghostly vocals twist the original track into a grinding and industrious ensemble. Giant Swan chops and reworks the track into a club-centric, floor-shaking rhythm workout filled with brooding SFX and unrelenting drumwork.

“Poisonous Storytelling” sees Butler injecting emotion and rage back into dance music. The end result is something visceral yet organic, deeply emotive and infectious – the troubled ghost trapped inside the whirring, shiny machine.