Soccer96, the duo of Danalogue [Dan Leavers] and Betamax [Max Hallett], may be two thirds of The Comet Is Coming, but they still possess sizeable power in their own right, as they will prove on their new album Dopamine, which arrives this September via Moshi Moshi. Along with the news, they’ve also shared the title track, which features another BPM fave, Nuha Ruby Ra.
On the song, Betamax says: “Dependency leads to free-falling integration, a moment of freefall into robotic consciousness. Humans and machines are locked in a dance of addiction.”
Having proven herself a menacing presence amidst unquantifiable sounds on her recent EP How To Move, it’s no surprise that Nuha Ruby Ra sounds completely at home amidst Soccer96’s cosmic squelch on “Dopamine”. She effectively plays the helpless human, while Soccer96 play the role of addictive tech, luring her deeper into an irreversible symbiosis. Soccer96 lay out an imperious synth march, and Nuha’s words about neuroses and monsters echo off into their cavernous creation. Gradually they build to a vertiginous peak, simultaneously intoning “it’s a long way down”, and you feel butterflies in your stomach as she prepares to make the leap – only to be caught in Soccer96’s safely zig-zagging web of sounds, now fully subsumed into their world.
Listen to “Dopamine” below or on streaming platforms.
Soccer96’s new album Dopamine is out on September 10 through Moshi Moshi. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp and Instagram.
