In The Alleyway

Hercules is the superior collaboration between loveable pop-sensations Peter Baldwin and Ben Sumner. Although American and British by birth, Peter and Ben began their partnership in Japan in the early 90s. Quickly earning a reputation for tight arrangements and lush orchestrations, they scored their first smash chart hit (#138) as producers for Japanese one-hit wonders The Little Kisses. By the late 90s the duo had relocated to the USA to release records under their own name. This led to the now cherished seasonal favorite Hercules Christmas Ep (with Glyn Styler) and other seminal works. Their latest release, In the Alleyway, features vocalist Gordon Zacharias (of Fan Modine fame) singing seven destined-to-be-classic pop gems alongside four stirring instrumentals.

Recorded on cassette with a single dynamic microphone, In the Alleyway challenges the notion that majestic baroque-pop relies on high fidelity for its fullest realization. Nostalgic without the trappings of sentimentality, familiar without being derivative, virtuosic without being cerebral, In the Alleyway reminds us all how very small we are indeed.