Soft Cell share ‘Heart Like Chernobyl’ – “I was feeling a bit Joy Division” says Dave Ball
Album shaped by Almond’s experiences at Andy Warhol’s The Factory
Soft Cell have revealed their latest single, ‘Heart Like Chernobyl’. The new track is accompanied by an exclusive lyric video (streamable above), and is taken from their first new album in 20 years, ‘Happiness Not Included’, scheduled for release on February 25, 2022.
Soft Cell, made up of frontman Marc Almond and producer and instrumentalist Dave Ball, are known for a plethora of top 40 hit singles released throughout the ‘80s, including ‘Tainted Love’, ‘Bedsitter’ and ‘Torch’.
The duo’s producer and instrumentalist Dave Ball gave a deeper insight into the self-described “damning proposition” heard in the lyrics for the new track:
“When I wrote the music to ‘Heart Like Chernobyl’ it was at the height of lockdown and I had been alone for about six weeks. I was feeling a bit Joy Division and recalled their track Isolation. I played, programmed and recorded the track digitally in my home studio – Kitchen Sink Drama. The track title was Marc’s idea, as was the subject matter.”
With the album co-produced by prolific record producer Phillip Larsen (Kylie Minogue, Studio Killers), ‘Happiness Not Included’ is a long-awaited comeback for Soft Cell. Despite their rabid core fanbase, the duo have not officially released an album since their reissue of Cruelty Without Beauty in 2002.
According to what has been confirmed by Soft Cell so far, the dup plan to build towards the new album’s release by sharing another new single in the autumn.
The album explores disappointment over a future that never materialised, sung through the lens of Marc Almond’s experiences at Andy Warhol’s The Factory. At the same time, he expresses disillusionment at the modern media landscape, and accepts that life isn’t eternal.
“In this album I wanted to look at us as a society: a place where we have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality and decency, food before the rights of animals, fanaticism before fairness and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of others. But in the album there is also a belief that there is a utopia if we can peel back the layers and understand what really matters”, said Almond.
While not yet released, many of the project’s other song titles have been confirmed, including ‘Light Sleepers’, ‘Purple Zone’, ‘New Eden’ and ‘Bruises On My Illusions’. The lyrics for ‘New Eden’ confirm the album’s retrospective tone, and its core theme of the passage of time: “All those plans we made in the ‘60s… Seem naïve now we’ve grown older / Leaving we’re leaving looking for the New Eden.”
Soft Cell have also announced an upcoming UK tour, playing a run of headline dates throughout November 2021. The tour will be the public’s first chance to hear their new songs, while at the same time marking the 40th anniversary of the band’s hit 1981 debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret.
Soft Cell play:
Wednesday 10th November 2021 – GLASGOW O2 ACADEMY
Friday 12th November 2021 – MANCHESTER O2 APOLLO
Saturday 13th November 2021 – LEEDS O2 ACADEMY
Monday 15th November 2021 – LONDON HAMMERSMITH APOLLO
Tuesday 16th November 2021 – LONDON HAMMERSMITH APOLLO