PHOEBE BRIDGERS

The story of how Soft Cell became a 10 million-selling pop duo, as original and influential as any group in the 1980s, is a rollicking one. Electronic Boy, Dave Ball’s new memoir, tells it all – an action-packed tale of sex, drugs and synthesisers, break-ups, make-ups and more.

Adopted when he was a baby, Ball, 61, grew up in Blackpool and muses that his life could have been very different.

“The only thing I know about my father is that he was quite successful in the building trade, so I would imagine you’d be talking to a builder right now,” he says.

Instead, fate decided Ball would meet fellow outsider Marc Almond on his first day at art school. Their twin fascinations with fairground life, freaks, soul, disco and sleaze led to them crafting perfect perv pop for the MTV age.

“There was never a desire to be a pop group,” Dave insists. He credits Stevo, the band’s notorious first manager, with turning Soft Cell from small-town outsiders into transatlantic chart-smashing sensations.

“We had a couple of years of madness. It was just insane. We were flying around in Concorde and I was still living in the housing association in Leeds.

“You get into all the bloody nonsense – particularly in New York with cocaine and all that stuff. It took about three years to realise what had happened.

“By the time you’ve done that, you have reached the burned-out phase.”

After Ball’s rehab, more chart smashing action with his other creative partner Richard Norris in The Grid, and Almond’s recovery from a serious traffic accident, Soft Cell’s reunion peaked with a sold-out comeback show at London’s O2 in September 2018.

“I thought we’d play the Albert Hall because Marc likes that venue but then they said something bigger. I thought ‘you’re kidding – not that many people like us’.

“But we sold it out and it was amazing, one of the highlights of my career. It was fantastic. Sadly it won’t be like that now. How is this business ever going to recover after this bloody virus?”

That remains to be seen. Ball has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has used his time shielding during lockdown to work on a new Soft Cell album.

“Working remotely is a weird experience. The new stuff is kind of wise, world weary but emotional, we’re still very passionate guys.

“Marc’s words can be kind of prophetic, like on the last album it didn’t sell too well, but Together Alone is the perfect isolating song.” ■■Dave Ball’s book Electronic Boy: My Life In and Out Of Soft Cell, is out now

★★★★

The second album by the Pasadena Princess, after her 2017 debut Stranger In The Alps, is a sly and soft swirl, flavoured with genres and freighted with indie all-stars. Bridgers’ wry yet downbeat view makes no concessions to commerciality. The captivating factors are her strength of personality and way with a delicate but enchanting melody, both weathering the most fearsome scenarios as on the title track and awed, trembling closer I Know The End.

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We flew on Concorde and I still lived in the housing association