"There can be no more recordings of Soft Cell without Dave, it would not be possible": Soft Cell announce final album, Danceteria

Danceteria is one of the final albums that Ball co-wrote and produced alongside singer Marc Almond before his passing in October 2025 at 66-years old, and will be their first release since their 2022 album Happiness Not Included and 2024 follow-up companion LP *Happiness Now Completed.

The new record was teased with a cover of Was (Not Was)' "Out Come The Freaks" back in March, and will be the last of Soft Cell after forty-seven years, as Almond explains: "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."

Today, they share disco-pop title track and album opener "Danceteria", alongside a video made by collage artist Vicki Bennett.

Speaking about the album, which is set in Manhattan nightclub where Almond and Bell would party until daybreak after the recording sessions for their 1981 debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, Almond explains: "Danceteria is a love letter to New York in the early 80s. The time we spent in New York - where we recorded our first 3 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."

“Soft Cell have always had a strong connection with New York, and my Soft Cell lyrics often look at America through British eyes,” Almond adds. “New York in the 1980s was a particularly creative place for me. It was a pivotal era in terms of changes in my personal life and changes in the city itself. 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.”

As Almond says goodbye to Soft Cell, he will be performing in North America on the Generations Tour with The Human League and Alison Moyet throughout June to July, and will also be playing UK shows with Gary Numan and Ladytron at Crystal Palace Bowl, London, on 6 August and as a special guest of The Human League at Ludlow Castle in Shopshire on 18 July.

Danceteria artwork

Danceteria tracklist

"Elusive"
"Danceteria"
"The Space Inside (Vinyl Edit)"
"Times Square (Vinyl Edit)"
"Two Of A Kind"
"The Rainbow Room (Vinyl Edit)"
"In Heaven (When I Dance With You)"
"Decadence Is Hard Work"
"Losing Yourself"
"After Hours"
"Wave To America"
"Out Come The Freaks"