Soft Cell, left, and Pet Shop Boys
The reunited Soft Cell — singer Marc Almond and producer/instrumentalist Dave Ball — will release their first new album in 20 years this May, but before that, the duo announced this week, they’ve teamed up with Pet Shop Boys to rework one of the songs on the record.
The first-ever collaboration between the two famed synthpop duos will be released March 22 in the form of a new recording of “Purple Zone,” a song that will appear on Soft Cell’s forthcoming reunion album *Happiness Not Included, which is due out on May 6. The duo also performed the song at their U.K. shows last November.
The Soft Cell-written “Purple Zone” has been turned into a duet with vocals by Almond and PSB’s Neil Tennant, with produced by Ball and the Pet Shop Boys, according to the two groups.
Soft Cell’s new album is the group’s first since 2002’s Cruelty Without Beauty and its fifth overall. Almond and Ball reunited in 2018 to perform a concert in London called “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” that was meant to both celebrate the group’s 40th anniversary and say farewell.
Below, check out the *Happiness Not Included cover art and tracklist, as well as live video of “Purple Zone” and audio of the three singles released so far off the new Soft Cell album.
Soft Cell, *Happiness Not Included
1. “Happy Happy Happy”
2. “Polaroid”
3. “Bruises On My Illusions”
4. “Purple Zone”
5. “Heart Like Chernobyl”
6. “Light Sleepers”
7. “*Happiness Not Included”
8. “Nostalgia Machine”
9. “Nighthawks”
10. “I’m Not A Friend Of God”
11. “Tranquiliser”
12. “New Eden”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Soft Cell waves goodbye with 30-song farewell performance in London — setlist + video
- Soft Cell debuts ‘Northern Lights’ — first new song in 15 years — off upcoming best-of
- Soft Cell reuniting for final ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’ concert in London this year
- ‘120 Minutes’ Rewind: Soft Cell’s Marc Almond goes under the ‘120 X-Ray’ — 1988
- Soft Cell’s Marc Almond releasing ‘Variete,’ first original album in a decade, in June
