Soft Cell’s Marc Almond releasing ‘Variete,’ first original album in a decade, in June

Former Soft Cell singer Marc Almond this summer will release Variete — his first new album of “self-written songs” in a decade and possibly his last — before embarking on the “30 Year Celebration: My Hits and A Sides” U.K. tour later this year, which are “likely to be his last British concerts for some time.”

Due out June 7 in the U.K. on Cherry Red Records, and preceded by the single “Nijinsky Heart,” Variete features 16 new songs and is Almond’s first album of originals since 1999’s Open All Night. The first 3,000 copies also will include a bonus disc with seven acoustic songs recorded during the same sessions (see full tracklist below).

On the Cherry Red website, Almond is quoted as saying he “wanted to celebrate nostalgia” on the new album by touching on “the themes of the changing times, a yearning for simplicity, regret at loss, growing older, loneliness through the eyes of a performer, madness, letting go, acceptance, as well as our obsession with nostalgia.”

Recent years have seen Almond recording covers albums such as 2009’s Orpheus in Exile, a collaboration with Russian producer Alexei Fedorov that features the songs of Soviet-era performer Vadim Kozin. In that vein, Almond already has announced his next project: Feasting With Panthers, his second collaboration with Michael Cashmore, which Almond has described as “an album of decadent, romantic and homoerotic poetry set to music.”

That album is expected in mid-2011, but Almond’s official site reports that “it will be the last album in this phase of Marc’s recording career and will be a lower-key release, not accompanied by concerts or promotion.” Similarly, the site says, “Marc’s tour at the end of this year is likely to be his last British concerts for some time” (see tour dates below).

Finally, Almond is in the midst of re-issuing three of his more recent solo albums in expanded 2CD sets; this week saw the re-release of Open All Night, while 2001’s Stranger Things and 2003’s Heart on Snow are expected at a later date.

See tracklist for Marc Almond’s ‘Variete’ and tour dates after the jump…

Tracklist: Marc Almond, Variete

1. “(Intro)”
2. “Bread & Circus”
3. “Nijinsky Heart”
4. “The Exhibitionist”
5. “The Trials of Eyeliner”
6. “Lavender”
7. “Soho So Long”
8. “Unloveable”
9. “Sandboy”
10. “It’s All Going On”
11. “Variety”
12. “Cabaret Clown”
13. “My Madness and I”
14. “But Not Today”
15. “Swan Song”
16. “Sin Song”

Limited-edition bonus disc
1. “My Evil Twin”
2. “A Lonely One”
3. “Cat Dancer”
4. “Criminal Lover”
5. “I Am No One”
6. “Smoke”
7. “Kiss the Ghost Goodbye”

Marc Almond tour dates:

May 28: Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain
June 9: Mojo Honours List 2010, Jazz Cafe, London, UK
June 25: Le Plat Plays: The Songs of Jacques Brel, Hala Arena, Polska, Poland
July 22: Embassy Theatre, Lincolnshire, UK (w/ Jools Holland’s orchestra)
July 30: Camp Bestival Festival, Dorset, UK
Aug. 22: Rewind Festival, Henley on Thames, UK
Sept 12: Bestival, Isle of Wight, UK
Oct. 31: Sinner’s Day, Ethias Arena, Hasselt, Belgium

30 Year Celebration: My Hits and A Sides Tour
Nov. 11: Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, Essex, UK
Nov. 12: The Anvil, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK
Nov. 13: De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, UK
Nov. 15: St. David’s Hall, Cardiff, UK
Nov. 19: Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, UK
Nov. 20: The Lowry, Salford, UK
Nov. 22: Grand Theatre and Opera House, Leeds, UK
Nov. 23: The Picturehouse, Edinburgh, UK
Nov. 24: The ABC, Glasgow, UK
Nov. 25: The Sage, Gateshead, UK
Nov. 28: Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, UK
Nov. 29: Town Hall, Huddersfield, UK
Nov. 30: Villa Marina, Isle of Man, UK
Dec. 2: Sheperds Bush Empire, London, UK
Dec. 5: The Assembly, Leamington Spa, UK