Art dance phenomenon, Hercules and Love Affair is set to release their highly anticipated new album In Amber this Friday, June 17 via BMG. This is Andy Butler’s first Hercules album in 5 years and it sees him reuniting with ANOHNI for the first time since her stellar turn on the eponymous debut in 2008. In Amber is a dark, introspective record with elements of atmospheric pop, jagged industrial textures, and ornate primeval folk. Today, they have released the final album preview track “Dissociation”, a booming orchestral arrangement magnified by the ethereal vocals of Elin Ey. The new song follows a Hercules & Love Affair remix of “Purple Zone” by Soft Cell & Pet Shop Boys and previous album singles “One” and “Poisonous Storytelling” featuring lynchpin collaborator ANOHNI and outstanding drummer Budgie (Siouxsie and the Banshees).

About the track, Andy Butler says: “‘Dissociation’ is a song that speaks to the fatigue I have felt brought on by the both the distortion of self and simultaneous fracturing of a coherent, shared, real-time experience of life that technology and specifically, the insidious personal interjection of social media into our lives has produced. Sung by the delicately emotive voice of Elin Ey, the detachment and increasingly programmed self doubt and mistrust of what we see and read has created a collective need to ‘dissociate’ on some level. As I chime in the chorus, “I am here, I am here, reel me in, reel me in”, the possibility of human intervention seems possible and incredibly comforting.”

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. It finds Butler digging deep within to find new ways of building community— searching for new solutions to the many problems that modern life seems to continuously create. It confronts the challenges that so many have faced over the last several years, searching for lessons to be taken away from the aftermath. The end result is something visceral yet organic, deeply moving and infectious – the troubled ghost trapped inside the whirring, shiny machine.

Photo Courtesy: Louis Kerckhof