Soft Cell
Biography Soft Cell
Soft Cell
When Soft Cell played a sold-out show in front of 20,000 adoring cellmates at London’s O2 Arena in September 2018, the evening was intended to be a grand farewell. Billed as One Night: One Final Time, it was originally going to be a case of saying hello to wave one last goodbye. Instead, it became the launching pad for a thrilling third act of the band’s glittering career.
The electronic duo – singer, showman and lyricist Marc Almond and electronics whizz and producer Dave Ball – had initially forged their creative bond in the art department of Leeds Polytechnic in 1977. They went on to achieve huge success in the 1980s, when they topped the UK singles chart with Tainted Love, sold over 21 million records, notched up one platinum album and two gold ones, and changed the course of pop by paving the way for a host of other synth-based acts, including Yazoo, Eurythmics, Tears for Fears, Pet Shop Boys and Erasure. They also brought something deliciously dark and distinctive to the table, being more than happy to flirt with danger and controversy, while regularly making decisions that made little or no commercial sense. With their songs covered by Marilyn Manson, David Gray and Nine Inch Nails, they also made music that has firmly stood the test of time. With personal and commercial pressures ultimately taking a toll, Marc and Dave began a 17-year hiatus in 1984, bringing Soft Cell’s first chapter to an end, but they subsequently reunited for two years in the 2000s for live gigs and a new album, Cruelty Without Beauty, before again going their separate ways to resume successful solo careers.
That, to all intents and purposes, had been that… until that momentous night in 2018. The intention at The O2 had been to draw a final line under Marc and Dave’s rollercoaster ride, but the reaction among fans proved so overwhelming that the big adieu turned into a new beginning. The rekindled onstage chemistry between Marc and Dave confirmed that there was still plenty of mileage left in their creative partnership, and the seven years since then have seen a re-energised band firing on all cylinders.
Soft Cell’s triumphant third coming has manifested itself on three different fronts: in the studio; on the stage; and through an ongoing series of CD and vinyl reissues of their early albums, all of which are being remastered and expanded with bonus tracks to cement the band’s position as one of the most important and influential acts of their generation.
A return to the studio began in the aftermath of the O2 concert, although the album that eventually emerged, *Happiness not included, was made in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic which meant that recording sessions had to be conducted remotely, a challenging state of affairs aggravated by Marc catching Covid-19 early in the process. But the record, released in May 2022 through a new deal with BMG, proved to be an auspicious addition to the Soft Cell catalogue, reiterating Marc and Dave’s ability to take big themes and everyday emotions and wrap them up in brilliant pop songs. Produced by Dave, alongside Grammy-winning co-producer Phillip Larsen, the album combined electronic dance, melodic three-minute pop, and ballads that added a new, widescreen sophistication to the Soft Cell sound. With Marc’s lyrics adopting a global perspective that took in vignettes from Britain, New York, Los Angeles and the former Soviet Union, it was a classic Soft Cell synthesis of sunshine and shadow – one that topped the dance albums chart, and also reached No.7 seven in the mainstream UK chart to give the band their first Top Ten release in 39 years.
Says Marc: ‘When I’m writing for Soft Cell, I’m in a different place to the one I inhabit as a solo artist. With Soft Cell, I look outwards. With *Happiness not included, I felt much the same as I did when we were making Cruelty Without Beauty. I avoided torch songs and dark ballads about unrequited romance, and focussed instead on social themes and worldly politics. That gave us a clear divide between Soft Cell, where my cynicism and sarcastic humour come to the fore, and my solo albums, which are more personal.’
Dave takes up the baton: ‘Marc and I might seem like chalk and cheese in terms of our personalities, but it’s amazing how much we have in common when we get together. It helps that we both have musical interests away from Soft Cell, too. Marc has his solo career. I can make ambient music with The Grid, as well as collaborate with other artists. But Soft Cell remains the biggest thing I’ve ever done. There’s an overall sound and feel that we both love. It’s a mixture of fantasy and social commentary – a fascination with the darker side. We look under the carpet. We find the skeletons in the cupboard.’
The *Happiness album also featured a single, Purple Zone, made with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of the Pet Shop Boys, who instigated the collaboration after seeing Soft Cell live in London in 2021. The initial plan had been for the Pet Shop Boys to simply remix the track, but things quickly developed into a full-scale collaboration, with Tennant adding his own vocals. ‘I was in the Far East on vacation the first time I heard the finished version with Neil and Chris, and I was blown away,’ recalls Marc. ‘Neil’s vocals are great, and the arrangement is perfect. They took the track to a whole new level, and I’m totally in awe of them. What they did showed how genuine and professional they are.’ For their part, the Pet Shop Boys were fulsome in their praise of Marc and Dave. ‘We are thrilled to collaborate with such an inspirational duo as Soft Cell on a gorgeous song,’ they said. And that song was rapturously received, landing on BBC Radio 2’s A List, topping the Official Charts download chart, and reaching the summit of the UK’s Physical Singles Chart.
The original album also produced two fascinating spin-offs – *Happiness now completed and *Happiness now extended – which turned what was originally a one-album project into a trilogy in 2023. The first of these two sister albums, *Happiness now completed, was an 18-song collection of unreleased material, alternative takes, covers of tracks by Giorgio Moroder (First Hand Experience in Second Hand Love) and Fad Gadget (Back To Nature), and a reworked version of 2002’s Last Chance, a song regarded by Marc and Dave as an overlooked gem that warranted a second hearing. The second spin-off, *Happiness now extended, was a double LP featuring longer versions of all 12 tracks on the original album. Released on double vinyl, and limited to 1,000 copies, it was the natural consequence of a long-established working practice that involved Dave recording lengthy backing tracks and then cutting them down to three or four minutes. ‘Many of the *Happiness not included tracks were originally longer, but we edited them for a single vinyl LP,’ he says. ‘Spreading them over two vinyl LPs meant we could use the longer versions.’
Soft Cell have since been back in the studio working on what will be their sixth studio album. Named after the legendary 1980s New York nightclub Danceteria – a venue which once hosted a Soft Cell album launch – the album is due to be released in spring 2026 via a new global deal with Republic of Music. ‘I have loved working on the Danceteria album,’ says Marc. ‘Dave’s music has again inspired me to write a set of lyrics that reflect a certain time in my life. New York in the early 1980s was a particular creative time for me. It was a pivotal era in terms of changes in my personal life and in the city itself. Soft Cell have always had a strong connection with New York City. We made our first three albums there, and took inspiration from the vibrant underground culture that existed at the time. My lyrics for Soft Cell have often looked at America through British eyes.’ Marc’s enthusiasm for the forthcoming release is shared by his bandmate. ‘I’m very excited about it,’ says Dave. ‘It’s the first release of ours to be created in my new studio in South London. With Marc recording his vocals across the river in Soho, it’s inspired by our experiences in London and New York in the 1980s.’
Since that emotional night at The O2, Soft Cell have also been busy re-establishing their live credentials. In November 2021, as the social restrictions of lockdown eased, the band marked the 40th anniversary of their 1981 debut album, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, with a UK tour on which they played the album in full alongside a mix of new material and other classic hits. It was a tour that saw them visit Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds before finishing with two nights at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. The latter shows took place just a stone’s throw from the site of the now demolished Hammersmith Palais, an iconic West London dance hall where Soft Cell played two farewell gigs prior to their original split in 1984. Their return to Hammersmith, albeit to a different venue, again stirred the emotions. ‘The Hammersmith Palais gigs in 1984 were very intense, and a lot of people were in tears at the end,’ recalls Dave. ‘So it was good to play the Apollo, or the Hammersmith Odeon as it once was. The Palais was always our favourite Hammersmith venue, but I always wanted to play the place on the other side of the Broadway as well. It was interesting playing a mix of new stuff and older hits – plus our debut in its entirety.’
Since then, the band have returned to North America, taking their Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret show to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, San Diego and New York in 2022, and crossing the Atlantic again in 2025, this time as guests of Simple Minds, another band enjoying a creative and commercial renaissance after originally tasting pop success in the 1980s. They have also played a series of prestigious outdoor shows in the UK, headlining Hampton Court Palace and Audley End’s Heritage Live in 2023, Nocturne Live at Blenheim Palace in 2024, and Rewind Festival in Henley-on-Thames in 2025. Away from home, they have also visited Berlin, Brazil, Spain, France, the Montreux Jazz Festival, and – for the very first time in their history – a headline tour of Australia.
For Dave, the band have developed dramatically as a live act over the years. ‘My technical ability has improved,’ he says. ‘I’ve learnt a lot through working with other musicians, and you can hear that on the recent records and our recent live shows. I can now do things I would never have been able to pull off in the past.’
Alongside the new records and live activities, Marc and Dave have also been overseeing the ongoing reissue programme that will eventually see all of their early albums expanded to cement an already impressive legacy. In December 2023, a multi-format reissue of Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret (which included a six-disc box set plus a Dolby Atmos version of the album created at Abbey Road) saw that record back in the UK Top 40 for the first time in four decades, while the band’s 1982 mini-album Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing was given the deluxe treatment in June 2025, remastered and boosted with remixes by Erasure, The Hacker, Jon Pleased Wimmin, Daniel Miller, The Grid, and others. An expanded reissue of 1983’s opulent The Art Of Falling Apart is due in October 2025, with 1984’s This Last Night in Sodom also in the works for the end of 2026.
Striking a balance between curating their legacy and pushing boldly onwards with new ventures and brilliant live shows, Soft Cell are now making the most of their triumphant return – one that can be traced all the way back to that night at The O2 in 2018. ‘I was as surprised as anyone by what happened that evening,’ remembers Marc. ‘When the show was first announced, I thought it might flop terribly, with maybe 3,000 fans in a cavernous arena. When it sold out in one weekend, I was stunned. It was a career high for us both. It was a show for the fans rather than the critics, and even the odd mistake – there’d been no production warm-up – made it all the more exciting. But I still hadn’t expected anything like the love that filled the room that night. Even though we’d had some big hit singles, I always felt, deep down, that Soft Cell were really an art school cult band. But being back onstage with Dave brought home to me just how much our fans love our music. I’m also over the moon with the new music we’re making. Dave and I get together whenever we have something new to say or something to celebrate. It is always an adventure.’
