Hercules & Love Affair have always thrived on blending the past, present, and future into something wholly their own—and never has that fusion felt more vivid than in their latest chapter, introduced through the new single “Someone Else Is Calling.”
While the song-driven, gothic atmosphere of their last album, In Amber, grew out of Andy Butler’s disillusionment with dance culture, the upcoming EP Someone Else Is Calling signals a full-force rekindling of that passion. Co-produced with Quinn Whalley of Paranoid London and Decius—a formative influence on Butler—the title track is a surging, tactile acid cut anchored by the striking vocal of Icelandic artist Hips & Lips (aka Elín Ey). Her delivery hits a radiant new-wave-meets-disco zone, channeling shades of Grace Jones and Alison Moyet during her Yazoo era.
Elín’s lyrics flow seamlessly with the track’s physical momentum, circling themes of self-possession, release, and the instinctual pull toward the next sensation—the hunger for something real. Those ideas echo Butler’s own journey after leaving New York for Belgium, where he rediscovered corners of dance culture that remained untouched by the homogenized, festival-driven world he’d grown tired of. What he found instead were spaces that mirrored the electric communion he felt during his first adolescent encounters with the dancefloor: sweaty, diverse, expressive gatherings rooted in presence and shared experience.
The accompanying music video, directed by Tatsumi Milori, captures that raw spirit with striking clarity. Shot as a love letter to Mexico City’s vibrant underground, it celebrates a community tapping into the timeless energy of dancefloor connection while embracing the fluidity, freedom, and possibility of today’s gender and sexual expression. Innocence and experience intertwine throughout the film, amplifying the heartbeat of the music and reflecting the emotional core driving this new era of Hercules & Love Affair.
This release marks only the beginning of a deeper creative partnership between Andy, Elín, and Quinn, promising further exploration into the underground cultures and decades of dance lineage informing the modern moment. But “Someone Else Is Calling” provides a glowing first glimpse of what’s to come.
Someone Else Is Calling arrives December 12 via StrataSonic, one of Los Angeles’s most exciting new independent labels and creative hubs. The lead single and Tatsumi Milori-directed music video are out now, marking the first collaboration between Hercules & Love Affair and StrataSonic.
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