Happiness Not Included - 2022 European BMG label 12-track LP

Soft Cell – frontman Marc Almond and producer/instrumentalist Dave Ball – are set to return with their fifth studio album *Happiness Not Included, which will be released in spring 2022 via a new deal with BMG. It represents their first new album since they issued Cruelty Without Beauty back in 2002.

One play of *Happiness Not Included reveals all of the traits that fans first adored Soft Cell for: that distinctive and striking balance between light and shade, hope and despair, the personal and the universal. Highlights include the yearning, airy pop of Purple Zone which contrasts its uplifting sonics with Almonds darkly doomed lyrics, while Light Sleepers drifts with a daydream elegance that neatly matches its subject matter. Elsewhere, Bruises On My Illusions is bigger and more abrasive, its baroque-tinged synth energy elevated by theatrical vocal harmonies, while the pure grandeur of New Eden closes with the album on a suitably cinematic note.

New Eden best encapsulates the albums themes as Almond sings, “All those plans we made in the 60s… Seem naïve now weve grown older / Leaving were leaving looking for the New Eden.” Changing perceptions of the passing of time are a recurring theme throughout. At various points, Almond explores the disappointment of a future that never materialised, reflects on his experiences at The Factory, expresses disillusionment at the modern media landscape, and comes to accept that life isnt eternal.

Tracklisting:

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. Im Not A Friend Of God
11. Tranquiliser
12. New Eden

Release date: February 25 - 2022