Soft Cell’s final album ‘Danceteria’ was inspired by the late David Ball’s morphine trips in the final months of his life.
Last month (October 22), the musician and producer, who was one half of the synthpop duo for 46 years alongside Marc Almond, passed away at his home in London at the age of 66.
In the days following his passing, Almond shared a statement revealing that they had completed work on their new record just days before he died. “He was focused and so happy with the new album that we literally completed only a few days ago,” he wrote.
“It’s fitting in many ways that the next (and now the last) album together is called ‘Danceteria’ as the theme takes us for a visit back to almost the start of it all, back to New York in the early 80’s, the place and time that really shaped us.”
‘Danceteria’ does not currently have a confirmed release date.
Now, an interview that Ball gave to Classic Pop magazine has been published in which he revealed the treatment for his illness had been a major factor in the creation of the material on ‘Danceteria’.
“I had strange recollections when I was in and out of hospital, because I was on morphine,” he said. “The new songs are a digital reflection of the sounds in my head from that time.”
“In parallel, it’s about the times me and Marc got up to in the 80s,” he added. “It’s looking backwards and forwards, the creative times we’ve had and how we feel about life now. I live in a fourth-floor flat today, but I was on the 24th floor of the same building when I wrote most of these songs. Overlooking central London, for my first high-rise album, felt very futuristic.”
Almond gave fans further context on the album in his statement last month, writing: “We always felt we were an honorary American band as well as quintessentially British. We have always been self-referential to the Soft Cell story and myths and this album in many ways will close that circle for us.”
“I wish he could have stayed on to celebrate 50 years in a couple of years time. He will always be loved by fans who loved his music. It’s a cliche to say but it lives on and somewhere at any given time around the world someone listens to, plays, dances, and get’s pleasure from a Soft Cell song – even if it’s just that particular two and half minute epic. Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my life and for the music you gave me. I wouldn’t be where I am without you.”
Formed in 1979, when Ball and Almond were both art students in Leeds, Soft Cell helped to define the sound of British music in the 1980s and beyond. Their 1981 debut album ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ changed the course of pop and paved the way for numerous synth-based duos, such as Pet Shop Boys, Eurythmics, Yazoo and Erasure.
Their second single, ‘Tainted Love’, topped the charts in the UK and in 17 countries around the globe. It was also certified as Britain’s best-selling single of 1981 and made the Guinness Book Of Records, as the single that spent the longest time on the US Billboard chart.
