About their final LP that represents both a creative closing chapter and a personal goodbye to the musician who shaped the duo’s sound from the very beginning, Marc Almond described Soft Cell’s final album Danceteria as a “fitting farewell” to his late bandmate Dave Ball.
In an interview with The Independent, the 68-year old explained that continuing the 1980s’ synth-pop duo without Dave – who passed away just days before they finished work on the record in October 2025 – simply isn’t possible, adding:
“There can be no more recordings of Soft Cell without Dave, it would not be possible.” “The sad reality is that Dave Ball was half of Soft Cell, and live work aside, I can’t write Soft Cell songs without him.”
Half of the the ‘Tainted Love’ hitmakers described the 9/25/26 released Danceteria as a deeply nostalgic project rooted in the city that defined the duo’s early years.
“Danceteria is a love letter to New York in the early 80s. The time we spent in New York – where we recorded our first three albums – shaped us both as artists and people. To celebrate this period is a fitting farewell to Dave Ball and the final Soft Cell studio album.” “New York shaped Soft Cell, as it opened up a whole new world of possibilities. It was dirty, dark and dangerous – a real Wild West – but it was also deeply inspiring and exciting. A lot of our original influences came from America anyway: New York punk, Devo, Suicide, Lou Reed, disco and 1960s soul. But New York was like nowhere else on earth. There were 24-hour nightclubs, music, art and underground theatre. It offered a cornucopia of energy and edge, and the lyrics on Danceteria reflect that time of my life,” said Almond.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Paul Cox; Distributed by Sire Records – Public Domain