A wild night in early ’80s Manhattan becomes the setting for one of synth-pop’s most poignant goodbyes. Electronic music legends Soft Cell, the duo of singer Marc Almond and multi-instrumentalist Dave Ball, release ‘Danceteria’, their sixth and final studio album, on September 25 via Republic of Music. The first proper single, the title track, is out now alongside a dazzling discotastic video by collage artist Vicki Bennett.
“Danceteria” opens the album as a joyous burst of disco pop, Almond’s iconic vocals soaring over Ball’s masterful John Barry-esque minor chord progressions. It pulls back the velvet curtain on a record that bounces through a symbolic day in New York, from late nights to bleary daybreak and back to the club. The 12-track album expands to 14 on CD, adding the bonus tracks “Crackland” and “What Is Your Morality.”
Almond calls the record a love letter to New York in the early ’80s, the city where the pair recorded their first three albums and came of age as artists and people. He framed it as a fitting farewell to Dave Ball, who co-wrote and produced the album before his untimely passing on October 22, 2025. Ball finished ‘Danceteria’ just two days before he died, and the release went ahead in full tribute to him.
The album has to be the last, Almond explained, because there can be no more Soft Cell recordings without Ball, who was half of the band and irreplaceable in the writing room. The record is set in the legendary Manhattan nightclub where the two art students from Leeds Polytechnic partied after sessions for their 1981 debut ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’, a venue where the queer community thrived and where Almond witnessed Madonna’s first-ever performance.
The album closes with a cover of Was (Not Was)’s mutant disco classic “Out Come The Freaks,” featuring Ball on vocals and a guest turn from Labelle’s Nona Hendryx. Soft Cell are currently on the Generations Tour across North America with The Human League and Alison Moyet, a run that winds down July 2 in Niagara, Ontario. It’s a big, classy, and deeply moving farewell to 47 years of music from one of Britain’s trailblazing sonic forces.
The Generations Tour Dates (with The Human League and Alison Moyet):
Jun 11 – Salt Lake City, UT – Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre (SOLD OUT)
Jun 12 – Las Vegas, NV – Fontainebleau Las Vegas (SOLD OUT)
Jun 13 – Mesa, AZ – Mesa Amphitheatre
Jun 16 – Dallas, TX – Texas Trust CU Theatre
Jun 17 – New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theatre
Jun 19 – Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre
Jun 20 – Charlotte, NC – The Amp Ballantyne
Jun 21 – Nashville, TN – Grand Ole Opry
Jun 23 – Chicago, IL – The Chicago Theatre (SOLD OUT)
Jun 24 – Detroit, MI – Masonic Temple Detroit
Jun 26 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall (SOLD OUT)
Jun 27 – Boston, MA – Wang Theatre
Jun 28 – Philadelphia, PA – The Met Philadelphia
Jun 30 – Vienna, VA – Filene Center
Jul 1 – Northfield, OH – MGM Northfield
Jul 2 – Niagara, ON – Fallsview Casino Resort (SOLD OUT)
‘Danceteria’ CD Track Listing:
- “Elusive”
- “Danceteria”
- “The Space Inside”
- “Times Square”
- “Two Of A Kind”
- “The Rainbow Room”
- “In Heaven (When I Dance With You)”
- “Decadence Is Hard Work”
- “Crackland”
- “What Is Your Morality”
- “Losing Yourself”
- “After Hours”
- “Wave To America”
- “Out Come The Freaks”