‘8w9zeros’ is the new track from British artist Douglas Dare. His music has been blending a variety of influences for a long time, with this track focusing on electro-pop. Gigantic, nostalgic synths sit at the track’s core, underpinning a vocal that wanders from jolting staccato lines to dramatically melodic vocoder explorations. It has a theoretical, yet restrained quality about it. Douglas Dare says: “The frankly disturbing realisation that the global population had reached eight billion just over a year ago led me to find solace in the idea of being with just one person. ‘8w9zeros’ is a dystopian love song to a dance beat because I needed it.” His new album, Omni, releases on May 10th, 2024, via Erased Tapes. -Dan Peeke