Soft Cell Concludes After Emotional Tribute to Late Dave Ball

Marc Almond has referred to Soft Cell’s upcoming final album Danceteria as a "fitting farewell" to his late bandmate Dave Ball.

Discussing the emotional significance of the record, Almond said the project serves both as a final creative statement and a personal goodbye to the musician who was instrumental in defining Soft Cell’s distinctive sound from the very beginning.

According to The Independent, he also made it clear that the duo could not realistically continue without Ball, who passed away only days before the completion of the album in October 2025.

He said: “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.”

The Tainted Love singer, 68, also described Danceteria, due for release on September 25, as a nostalgic tribute to New York during the early 1980s, a city that played a key role in shaping the duo’s early identity.

He said: “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.”

Reflecting further on that era, Almond said New York was central to Soft Cell’s artistic development and broadened their creative horizons in ways no other place could.

He explained: “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.”