‘So Long Lover Goodbye…’ Soft Cell Release New Song ‘Vapourise’ Ahead of February’s ‘*Happiness Not Included’ LP

Theatrical imagery and dark synths populate Vapourise, the latest release from Marc Almond and Dave Ball’s new Soft Cell era *Happiness Not Included. The track centred on leaving a toxic lover sees Marc purr “So long lover goodbye, You’re not coming back, If it takes a nuclear explosion, A full on attack…” against pounding synths and brooding electronic production from himself, Dave and Philip Larsen. The track appears to be a B-Side to the duo’s recent singles as it does not feature on the final LP tracklist.

*Happiness Not Included marks the sixth album from Soft Cell who reunited for a successful tour this year to mark the fortieth anniversary of their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret. With four album releases in the early 1980s, Soft Cell would later reunite for their fifth album – 2002’s Cruelty Without Beauty. Twenty years on *Happiness Not Included arrives courtesy of record label BMG.

With the LP’s striking Chernobyl set artwork, titles such as Bruises On My Illusions and Heart Like Chernobyl capture the tone of the brooding synthpop anthems that Marc Almond and Dave Ball release. Marc shares: “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.“ Dave adds: “[The album was] Recorded remotely during a world pandemic. Science fiction stories for the 21st century.”

The duo have given us a taste of the synth-soaked lead single Heart Like Chernobyl, a catchy melancholic banger with similar cinematic vibes and Bruises On All My Illusions.

*Happiness Not Included is set to be released on the 25th of February 2022. See the tracklist below.

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’

Pre-order Soft Cell’s latest here.