Electronic music legends Soft Cell - singer/LGBTQ icon Marc Almond and late multi-instrumentalist/producer Dave Ball, are set to release Danceteria, their sixth and final studio album, on September 25 via Republic of Music.
The duo is best known for the classic '80s remake of Edd Cobb/Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love."
The title track, available now, is a disco pop statement of intent. Danceteria, the album, arrives on LP and CD, with the CD expanding to 14 tracks including two bonus tracks: "Crackland" and "What Is Your Morality."
Marc describes the album:
"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."
The album is one of the last bodies of work Ball co-wrote and produced before his sad, untimely passing in October 2025. Almond described Dave as a "brilliant musical genius." Dave finished Danceteria two days before he passed away, and it is in full tribute to him that the album release went ahead as planned.
It is also because of Dave's passing that Danceteria simply has to be the last Soft Cell album, as Marc 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."
Danceteria is set in the legendary Manhattan nightclub where young Marc and Dave would party until the small hours after the recording sessions for their seminal 1981 debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.
“Soft Cell have always had a strong connection with New York, and my Soft Cell lyrics often look at America through British eyes,” says Marc. “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.”
This past March, the first new music released from Danceteria in form of "Out Come The Freaks," a cover of Was (Not Was)'s 1981 song. "Out Come The Freaks" features guest vocals from Nona Hendryx, one third of Labelle of "Lady Marmalade" fame. "Danceteria" was initially released as an extended mix on limited white 12" vinyl for Record Store Day 2026, along with a house rework by Mark Moore and Dan Donovan, plus a dub version.
Marc Almond will be performing as Soft Cell in North America on the Generations Tour with The Human League and Alison Moyet throughout July. Marc will also be playing some UK solo shows, including with Gary Numan and Ladytron at Crystal Palace Bowl, London, on August 6 and as a special guest of The Human League at Ludlow Castle, Shopshire, on July 18 (full listings and tickets
here).
Track Listing:
LP
Side A
1) Elusive (Vinyl Edit)
2) Danceteria
3) The Space Inside (Vinyl Edit)
4) Times Square (Vinyl Edit)
5) Two Of A Kind
6) The Rainbow Room (Vinyl Edit)
7) In Heaven (When I Dance With You)
Side B
1) Decadence Is Hard Work
2) Losing Yourself
3) After Hours
4) Wave To America
5) Out Come The Freaks
CD:
1) Elusive
2) Danceteria
3) The Space Inside
4) Times Square
5) Two Of A Kind
6) The Rainbow Room
7) In Heaven (When I Dance With You)
8) Decadence Is Hard Work
9) Crackland
10) What Is Your Morality
11) Losing Yourself
12) After Hours
13) Wave To America
14) Out Come The Freaks
Pre-order Danceteria on vinyl, CD and digital
here.
www.softcell.co.ukThe Human League, Soft Cell and Alison Moyet Tour Dates:
Jun 13 Mesa, AZ
Mesa AmphitheatreJun 16 Dallas, TX
Texas Trust CU TheatreJun 17 New Orleans
Saenger TheatreJun 19 Atlanta, GA
Fox TheatreJun 20 Charlotte, NC
The Amp BallantyneJun 21 Nashville, TN
Grand Ol OpryJun 23 Chicago, IL The Chicago Theatre SOLD OUT
Jun 24 Detroit, MI
Masonic Temple DetroitJun 26 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall SOLD OUT
Jun 27 Boston, MA
Wang TheatreJun 28 Philadelphia, PA
The Met PhiladelphiaJun 30 Vienna, VA
Filene CenterJul 1 Northfield, OH
MGM NorthfieldJul 2 Niagara, ON Fallsview Casino Resort SOLD OUT
Photo: Mike Owen/Reybee PR
George Paul
