Soft Cell Talks the ‘Zeitgeist’ Coincidence of Releasing a ‘Danceteria’ Song the Same Year as Madonna
Categoria: Musica
Marc Almond reflects on Danceteria, the synth-pop duo’s final album after the loss of his bandmate David Ball.
Por Billboard | 25/09/2026
“Bittersweet” is Marc Almond’s term for Danceteria, the sixth and final Soft Cell album which is out Friday (Sept. 25), 11 months after longtime partner David Ball passed away at the age of 66. “It wasn’t a complete surprise, but I thought we still would’ve had more time together to see through this album, at least, and who knows what for the future,” Almond tells Billboard of Ball’s death, which came after years of extensive health issues. “I’d been in contact with him just two days before and we both ticked off the album and said how pleased we are with it, then two days later he passed away. So the album’s finally coming out, and I just wish Dave was around to enjoy it.” Almond, 69, had an early chance to witness how Danceteria would be received on this summer’s Generations Tour with the Human League and Alison Moyet, during which he previewed three of its 14 songs, including the title track and the album-closing remake of Was (Not Was)’s “Out Come the Freaks” recorded with Nona Hendryx. The album was actually a couple of years in the making and originally planned to be released during the spring, but Ball’s health matters complicated those plans. As far as Almond is concerned, Danceteria puts a cap on the Soft Cell story, which began during 1979 in Leeds, while he and Ball were attending Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Beckett University). They borrowed money from Ball’s mother to make a limited-edition EP called Mutant Moments and contributed a track to a Some Bizarre label compilation before the duo’s cover of Gloria Jones’ 1965 single “Tainted Love” hit No. 1 in 17 countries and for a time held a Guinness World Record for its 43-week stay on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 8 in 1982. Soft Cell released three albums before splitting up in 1984, then reunited from 2000-2005 and again from 2018 to Ball’s death. Ball also contributed to Almond’s solo efforts. In conversation, Almond told us about how the Danceteria album came together and went down memory lane to talk about the New York scene of the ‘80s that inspired the duo’s final statement. There must be considerable emotion, for obvious reasons, as you put Danceteria out. It’s relief, to be quite honest. We started recording the album heading on two years ago now. It’s been an on-and-off process, due to Dave’s health and various things, and of course him passing away last year. It held things back for quite a bit and came out later than we’d planned. I’d planned, alongside with Dave, to do a small tour around what would have been March this year, but of course all that didn’t happen. You’ve said his passing wasn’t a surprise, but nevertheless… I think it was a matter of timing. His health had been very bad for awhile, but he was really on an up, healthwise. We’d done the album. He was very