Modern queer dance luminary Andy Butler returns in celebration of Pride with the announcement of a new, dancefloor-centric Hercules & Love Affair EP titled Danseur. The announcement arrives alongside the release of its lead single “I Get High,” kicking off a two-part, seven-track rollout that continues with Danseur PT 1 on July 14, and Danseur PT 2 on September 10 — all out via Stratasonic Records. The entire EP comprises a handful of miniaturized tales from the LGBT community. 

There is a special nod to the New York scene, with a cover of Book of Love’s song “Boy” that pays tribute to New York’s iconic BoyBar. The stories range from the earth-shaking coming out depicted in “My Journey” to the tragic but hopeful narrative of “The Eyes of Love,” in which two men find each other only to have their honeymoon interrupted by the looming clouds of HIV—a story inspired by Butler’s own life. The EP continues with the tale of two women in love in the ’60s, living proudly in “Night On the Town.”  Perhaps most poignantly, “Pirouette” is dedicated to both SOPHIE, a longtime friend of returning collaborator Faris Badwan of The Horrors, and Butler’s lovingly remembered collaborator Aerea Negrot, who passed within months of one another.

The first single, “I Get High,” brings Hi-NRG new wave into the project’s orbit, nodding to Patrick Cowley, Giorgio Moroder, and Lime. “The song is about what I consider one of the last frontiers of LGBT rights,” Butler says, “which is to embrace and encourage the romantic partners of trans and nonbinary people to come out, and leave the lie of shame behind. We need more real connection, not less, in this world.”

Butler is taking us on a journey through the sounds of different institutions with these new EPs, with the music sharing the emotional current that’s run through Hercules & Love Affair since the 2008 classic “Blind,” with ANOHNI. Like last year’s Someone Else Is Calling project, Danseur was created alongside Elín Ey of Hips & Lips and Quinn Whalley of Paranoid London, continuing the chemistry the trio found through their shared love of acid house, disco, and darker music. The EP also features Faris Badwan of The Horrors.

Butler’s music has long held the respect of house music’s foundational figures, with past Hercules & Love Affair work being remixed by legends including Frankie Knuckles and Larry Heard. Butler has spent nearly two decades using Hercules & Love Affair to explore queer identity, intimacy, and the emotional pull of house music.