I am not sure there will be any more Soft Cell albums after this
The electro-pop act’s frontman Marc Almond tells MARION McMULLEN about their new release
distinctive sound of synth pop pioneers Soft Cell was first heard more than 40 years ago, but frontman Marc Almond says newly released album Happiness Not Included could be their swansong
The 64-year-old says it’s unlikely there will be another album after this.
“It’s a proper last album,” he says. “It all feels like it has come together and we are really happy with it.
“Very early on we gave the new album the working title of Future Nostalgia which, of course, would later – and unbeknown at the time – be the title of Dua Lipa’s album (as odd as that seems and annoying as it is), so the general theme I suppose was around that idea.”
Marc adds: “It feels like a complete album that I hope speaks to people about the world we currently find ourselves in.
“But in the end, if indeed this is the end, there is a thread of optimism in the album that comes with accepting who we are and where we are in the world. There is so much madness presently in the world that it all feels out of kilter as we sit on the precipice and watch the life we knew disintegrate.”
Marc and fellow Soft Cell band member Dave Ball first made their mark on the British music scene in 1981 with their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret. It featured the global chart-topping smash and cover of Gloria Jones Northern Soul classic Tainted Love, as well as legendary singles Bedsitter, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye and Memorabilia.
Marc says they went back to his bedsit in Leeds and drank tins of cocktails to toast their first hit. “How could we be prepared for success?” he asks. “It changed our lives irrevocably. How could anyone know? The stars align and then BOOM!”
He remembers: “I was angsty and spotty and gay – and the least likely pop star and Dave was tall, handsome and charismatic. As Jung said ‘The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed’. And, in many ways, we both were transformed by each other.”
Marc explains the relationship saying: “We are, of course, so different, but our roots are firmly from the north/north west of England and it is such a qualitative place. The affordable glamour and heart of Blackpool, seaside towns out of season like Southport, the darkness of Leeds in the time of the Yorkshire Ripper, the anger and excitement of the music scene with Northern soul, disco, punk and electro.”
With 25 million sales, six UK top 10 singles and a BRIT Award to their name, Tainted Love also spent two weeks at number one in the UK and was top 10 in the States. Happiness Not Included, released via BMG, is only Soft Cell’s fifth studio album in 41 years and includes their first collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys on the latest single Purple Zone.
“They came to see the Soft Cell show at Hammersmith Apollo late last year and liked the song Purple Zone,” explains Marc. “It was sent to them and the next thing I knew was this brilliant version came back to me. They took the track to a new place, another level – quite astonishing.
“We subsequently made the video together and it was great fun.”
The singer caught Covid-19 early on in the pandemic and says: “For a while I couldn’t sing without being breathless, and some days I sounded nasal and raspy in the studio, because my sinuses were damaged by the virus. I still suffer from long Covid symptoms, but my voice has now improved.
“When I listen to our new album now, I can still hear the effect that Covid had on my voice on some of the earlier recorded vocals. I’ve left them as they are, though, as it’s a reminder of a time in my life – a time in all of our lives.
“The pandemic has made me re-evaluate my life. In some ways, I’m not the same person as I was two years ago, before the pandemic hit. So I want to grab opportunities and experiences while I
can. And, as long as Dave and I have an audience, there will always be Soft Cell events in one form or another. I’ve said “never again” far too often in the past, so I’m not going to fall into that trap. But I’d also like to keep any events special and not take on too much.
“That way, we can keep everything exciting.”
■ Visit softcell.co.uk forffinformation