Erasure4Rum

Welcome!

Whilst I'm sure we are all looking forward to putting the early part of 2020 behind us, in the world of Soft Cell there's plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks and months. To kick things off here at Lexer Music, we are pleased to announce a brand new range of Soft Cell, The Grid and Dave Ball t-shirt merchandise...

• Dave Ball Book, Boxset and new T-Shirt Merchandise

Dave Ball
As we write, there are now less than 200 copies remaining of the special edition Dave Ball Electronic Boy boxset to accompany his autobiography. The CD within the boxset has been expanded to include additional exciting rarities and exclusives, and now contains almost 80 minutes of music. The tracklist is now featured in the listing but please note this is still subject to change. As well as the signed book and CD, the boxset also includes a 7" single with Dave's very first and most recent recordings, 4 postcards and an "In Strict Tempo" art print.

Lexer Music have an exclusive on the signed boxsets, so if you want to order the special edition, please do so quickly to avoid missing out – there will be no second pressing. A standard hardback version of the book is also still available. Both the boxset and book are out in June.

To support the release (out slightly later in July) is a range of Dave Ball t-shirts. Three t-shirt designs are available featuring Electronic Boy, Electronic Girl and VU Meter logos.

Pre-order are now available exclusively from Lexer Music for the signed book and boxset out on June 11th and 25th respectively and the new t-shirt merchandise out 3rd July 2020.

Dave Ball Book, Boxset and new T-Shirt Merchandise

• New Soft Cell T-Shirt Merchandise

Soft Cell Merchandise
As you may be aware, Soft Cell are working on expanded deluxe re-issues of all their albums this year, with the team responsible for the Keychains & Snowstorms boxset currently putting the finishing touches to these exciting new versions. Conscious of the amount of reissues over the years, they have worked hard to include lots of unreleased and rare material, with these definitive versions intended to be the perfect companion to the box set, with minimum track/mix duplication.

Big Frock Rekords will be releasing an expanded 2CD version of 2002's Cruelty Without Beauty, as well as a special coloured vinyl edition, available from Lexer Music soon. This album has never been released on vinyl before, so it’s especially exciting!

Soft Cell will also be releasing a complete 2CD version of Soft Cell’s pre-Phonogram demos and early recordings, containing some unheard material discovered when compiling the box set. We will announce a release date for these shortly alongside the start of the pre-order.

Soft Cell are currently scheduling release dates with Universal for the other albums, and currently anticipating Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing, The Art Of Falling Apart and This Last Night In Sodom to be released in new expanded 2CD editions in September.

Ahead of this, we can now offer a pre-order for a new range of Soft Cell T-Shirt merchandise featuring t-shirts with Big Frock Rekords, The Singles, Magick Mutants and Mutant Moments logos. See the Soft Cell merchandise section for full details.

Pre-orders have now started for the new range of Soft Cell T-Shirt merchandise, released 3rd July 2020.


https://www.lexermusic.com/soft-cell?ut ... 2020-04-28

https://www.lexermusic.com/

Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty - (2xCD Book)

Soft Cell’s 2002 reunion album ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ is set for revaluation in new expanded and remastered 2CD formats, as well as being released on vinyl for the very first time.
Long regarded by many fans as an overlooked masterpiece, the album features a lyrical outlook that was as true to Soft Cell’s maturity and perspective back in 2002 as it is relevant and accurate to the world situation in 2020. Harshly honest, fatalistic and bleakly humorous, Cruelty Without Beauty also preserves the band’s highly distinctive and edgy sound, and stands alongside their greatest work.
The new 2020 version includes tracks originally destined for the album, but for various reasons not on the final cut. It also includes brand new 2020 versions of six of the album highlights Monoculture, Together Alone, Darker Times, Last Chance, Le Grand Guignol and Caligula Syndrome, updated this year by Dave Ball. Also included are a number of unreleased live versions of album tracks, plus rare and unreleased remixes. The album has been compiled by the team behind the band’s acclaimed 2018 box set ‘Keychains & Snowstorms’.
Cruelty Without Beauty, Soft Cell’s fourth studio album, and the first since their original split in 1984, happened after Marc Almond and Dave Ball reunited in the studio after Dave’s ‘other’ band The Grid (with Richard Norris). They worked together on some tracks from Marc’s 1991 Tenement Symphony album, which eventually opened the door for some live Soft Cell dates and a reunion in 2001. As well as this album release in 2002, the band toured the album extensively in the UK, and across Europe and the US, including many festival appearances throughout 2002 and 2003.
The album includes the singles Monoculture and a cover of Frankie Valli & The Four Season’s classic The Night, which became the band’s first Top 40 hit since since 1984.
Most recently in 2018, Soft Cell sold out London’s O2 Arena and were the subject of a career retrospective BBC documentary. They have recently signed to BMG and are currently recording a brand-new album, set for release in 2021. Before then, all of their classic Phonogram-era albums will be reissued in new expanded editions via Universal Music.
The 2CD book version features almost 160 minutes of music, including brand new 2020 mixes, unreleased/rare remixes plus unreleased live tracks recorded at a triumphant homecoming reunion show in Leeds in 2002. New artwork and sleeve notes, essay by Adrian Thrills, compiler’s notes, plus fully printed lyrics (for the first time) and other archive content.
All pre-orders of the album will receive an exclusive 4 postcard set featuring artwork from this album. One set of postcards per order.
Please note that the tracklisting and artwork are still subject to change as the final touches are put to this project, and may be revised or updated before release.
"Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty", is out Friday, 30th October 2020 on Big Frock Records and available for pre-order now.
NB: All products ordered with a pre-order will be dispatched together close to the latest pre-order release date. If you want earlier dispatched for another product then please place separate order(s).
CD1 Track Listing

Darker Times
Monoculture
Le Grand Cuignol
The Night
Last Chance
Together Alone
Desperate
Whatever It Takes
All Out Of Love
Sensation Nation
Caligua Syndrome
On An Up
Divided Soul
God Shaped Hole
Somebody, Somewhere, Sometime
Dancing Alone
Perversity
CD2 Track Listing

Darker Times (2020 Extended Mix)
Together Alone (2020 Extended Mix)
Le Grand Cuignol (2020 Extended Mix)
Last Chance (2020 Extended Mix)
Together Alone (2020 Extended Mix)
Caligula Syndrome (2020 Extended Mix)
The Night (Manhattan Clique Remix)
Divided Soul (Live in Leeds, 2001)
God-Shaped Hole (Live in Leeds, 2001)
Somebody Somewhere Sometime (Live in Leeds, 2001)
Last Chance (Live in Leeds, 2001)
The Night (Live, 2002)
Together Alone (Live, 2002)
Darker Times (Live at London O2, 2018)
Format: 2xCD Book Deluxe Album
BarCode: 5053760063414
Catalogue Number: ABF5CD
Label: Big Frock Records
Release Date: Friday, 30th October 2020

Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty - (Limited Edition 180g Magenta Double Vinyl LP Album)

Soft Cell’s 2002 reunion album ‘Cruelty Without Beauty’ is set for revaluation in new expanded and remastered 2CD formats, as well as being released on vinyl for the very first time.
Long regarded by many fans as an overlooked masterpiece, the album features a lyrical outlook that was as true to Soft Cell’s maturity and perspective back in 2002 as it is relevant and accurate to the world situation in 2020. Harshly honest, fatalistic and bleakly humorous, Cruelty Without Beauty also preserves the band’s highly distinctive and edgy sound, and stands alongside their greatest work.
The new 2020 version includes tracks originally destined for the album, but for various reasons not on the final cut. It also includes brand new 2020 versions of six of the album highlights Monoculture, Together Alone, Darker Times, Last Chance, Le Grand Guignol and Caligula Syndrome, updated this year by Dave Ball. Also included are a number of unreleased live versions of album tracks, plus rare and unreleased remixes. The album has been compiled by the team behind the band’s acclaimed 2018 box set ‘Keychains & Snowstorms’.
Cruelty Without Beauty, Soft Cell’s fourth studio album, and the first since their original split in 1984, happened after Marc Almond and Dave Ball reunited in the studio after Dave’s ‘other’ band The Grid (with Richard Norris). They worked together on some tracks from Marc’s 1991 Tenement Symphony album, which eventually opened the door for some live Soft Cell dates and a reunion in 2001. As well as this album release in 2002, the band toured the album extensively in the UK, and across Europe and the US, including many festival appearances throughout 2002 and 2003.
The album includes the singles Monoculture and a cover of Frankie Valli & The Four Season’s classic The Night, which became the band’s first Top 40 hit since since 1984.
Most recently in 2018, Soft Cell sold out London’s O2 Arena and were the subject of a career retrospective BBC documentary. They have recently signed to BMG and are currently recording a brand-new album, set for release in 2021. Before then, all of their classic Phonogram-era albums will be reissued in new expanded editions via Universal Music.
The magenta vinyl album version is cut on double deluxe 180g magenta vinyl, with a gatefold sleeve and especially remastered for this format, with 5 bonus tracks.
All pre-orders of the album will receive an exclusive 4 postcard set featuring artwork from this album. One set of postcards per order.
Please note that the tracklisting and artwork are still subject to change as the final touches are put to this project, and may be revised or updated before release.
"Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty", is out Friday, 30th October 2020 on Big Frock Records and available for pre-order now.
NB: All products ordered with a pre-order will be dispatched together close to the latest pre-order release date. If you want earlier dispatched for another product then please place separate order(s).
LP Track Listing

A1. Darker Times
A2. Monoculture
A3. Le Grand Cuignol
A4. The Night
B1. Last Chance
B2. Together Alone
B3. Desperate
B4. Whatever It Takes
C1. All Out Of Love
C2. Sensation Nation
C3. Caligua Syndrome
C4. On An Up
D1. Divided Soul
D2. God-Shaped Hole
D3. Somebody Somewhere Sometime
D4. Dancing Alone
D5. Perversity
Format: Limited Edition 180g Magenta Double Vinyl LP Album
BarCode: 5053760063407
Catalogue Number: ABF5LP
Label: Big Frock Records
Release Date: Friday, 25th September 2020


Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty 2020 Remixes - (Limited Edition White Vinyl EP)

Featuring new updated 2020 mixes of Monoculture, Together Alone, Darker Times, Last Chance, Le Grand Guignol and Caligula Syndrome. Strictly limited to 500 copies.
Please note that the tracklisting and artwork are still subject to change as the final touches are put to this project, and may be revised or updated before release.
"Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty 2020 Remixes", is out Friday, 30th October 2020 on Big Frock Records and available for pre-order now.
NB: All products ordered with a pre-order will be dispatched together close to the latest pre-order release date. If you want earlier dispatched for another product then please place separate order(s).
EP Track Listing

Darker Times (2020 Extended Mix)
Monoculture (2020 Extended Mix)
Le Grand Guignol (2020 Extended Mix)
Last Chance (2020 Extended Mix)
Together Alone (2020 Extended Mix)
Caligula Syndrome (2020 Extended Mix)
Format: Limited Edition White Vinyl EP
BarCode: 5053760063421
Catalogue Number: ABF5EP
Label: Big Frock Records
Release Date: Friday, 30th October 2020


Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty Bundle 2 - (2xCD, Magenta LP, White EP, T-Shirt)

The "Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty Bundle 2" consists of the following products, available in one easy-to-order listing via a single click and at a discount to the individual prices:
Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty - (2xCD Book Deluxe Album)
Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty - (Limited Edition 180g Magenta Double Vinyl LP Album)
Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty 2020 Remixes - (Limited Edition White Vinyl EP)
Soft Cell - Cruelty Without Beauty - (Limited Edition T-Shirt)
All pre-orders of the album will receive an exclusive 4 postcard set featuring artwork from this album. One set of postcards per order.

COUNTDOWN TO RELEASE DATE OF CRUELTY WITHOUT BEAUTY 2020 ON 4TH DECEMBER 2020 - 24 DAYS TO GO!
We're counting down with a Cruelty Without Beauty-related post each day until release (when possible).

Something very special today. As you'll see in the upcoming sleeve notes, Dave and Marc always regretted not putting God-Shaped Hole, Somebody Somewhere Sometime, and Divided Soul on Cruelty Without Beauty (until this new 2020 version!) This recently unearthed demo of the latter track dates back to 1999 before recording sessions for Cruelty started, when the band met up in the studio to write some new songs, just see where it would take them. Most recently, it was in the setlist for the 2018 O2 show, but had to be dropped halfway through the show due to overrunning. We reckon it should have been a single, and hope you enjoy it...



The lossless/WAV version of this Divided Soul demo appears on the new 75 track USB format of Cruelty Without Beauty, alongside the original album, new extended versions, remixes, live versions, remixes and other rarities - all freshly remastered. It will be available for a strictly limited period only.

Please note that if you have already pre-ordered any Cruelty Without Beauty items via softcell.co.uk, you now have an option to add this USB stick (which comes with a Soft Cell lanyard) for a special price £20 with no extra postage cost, and it will be included in your pre-order due to despatch later this month. It is also available as a stand-alone purchase, which also comes with this four postcard set.

Orders and information: https://www.softcell.co.uk/cruelty-without-beauty



We are also making a 75-track digital download version of Cruelty Without Beauty 2020 available as lossless WAV files delivered on a special Soft Cell branded USB stick which comes with a black and white Soft Cell lanyard.

The USB edition expands the 54-track digital download available from Amazon with the addition of a selection of Cruelty Without Beauty demos that were recently sent to us on an old cassette, and which we have now converted to remastered digital files. Tracks include fantastic early versions of Whatever It Takes, Divided Soul, Somebody Somewhere Sometime, Darker Times and Monoculture.

We’ve also added the audio for Monoculture, Divided Soul, Together Alone, Last Chance and Darker Times, the five tracks performed at September’s Marc Life performance, as well as the five tracks from Cruelty Without Beauty that Soft Cell performed at London’s O2 in 2018, and we’re hoping to announce a couple of other tracks too, all of which will ensure this USB edition of the album will include a minimum of 75 tracks.

COUNTDOWN TO RELEASE DATE OF CRUELTY WITHOUT BEAUTY 2020 ON 4TH DECEMBER 2020 - 23 DAYS TO GO!
We're counting down with a Cruelty Without Beauty-related post each day until release (when possible).

So many songs on Cruelty Without Beauty seem especially prophetic in these strange days we currently live in - Together Alone, Darker Times and Monoculture being just three, and today we add God-Shaped Hole to that list, with the very topical line 'I'm the shamed president of the USA'. Here's a live version from Soft Cell's 2001 live show at Leeds University - the first show they had played in their adopted hometown since 1981.



The lossless/WAV version of this live track appears on the new 75 track USB format of Cruelty Without Beauty, alongside the original album, new extended versions, remixes, live versions, remixes and other rarities - all freshly remastered. It will be available for a strictly limited period only.

Please note that if you have already pre-ordered any Cruelty Without Beauty items via softcell.co.uk, you now have an option to add this USB stick (which comes with a Soft Cell lanyard) for a special price £20 with no extra postage cost, and it will be included in your pre-order due to despatch later this month. It is also available as a stand-alone purchase, which also comes with this four postcard set.

Orders and information: https://www.softcell.co.uk/cruelty-without-beauty

CLASSIC ALBUM RE-ISSUES UPDATE

The CD reissues of Soft Cell’s Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing, The Art of Falling Apart and This Last Night in Sodom have been put back to 4th February 2022. It was always going to be a tight squeeze fitting them into the schedule with the other news we have coming up very soon , so we have taken the decision to postpone, and we will now announce them for exclusive pre-order in the autumn. We’re sorry to bring this news, but we promise it will be WELL worth the wait, with 4 double CDs featuring almost 160 minutes of music per album, and over 50% previously unreleased music - the perfect companion to the Keychains & Snowstorms boxset! We are also talking to the label about some other format versions - news to follow - as well as other ways to mark the 40th anniversary of Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret in November.

However, it’s not all disappointing news! We will be marking the 40th anniversary release of Tainted Love in July and throughout the summer in a number of ways, with new mixes currently in production, and digital and physical formats of this seminal groundbreaker. Again, watch out for news on this very soon…

Thanks for your patience. SCHQ

Very happy to announce...

DAVE BALL AND RICHARD NORRIS SIGNS TO MUTE SONG PUBLISHING!

Dave Ball, best known for his work with Soft Cell and The Grid, alongside a host of other projects over the last 40 years, has signed a brand-new publishing deal with Daniel Miller’s Mute Song. The deal covers a substantial part of his back catalogue, as well as the upcoming fifth Soft Cell album on BMG, and was signed on the back of substantial interest in Soft Cell since their sold-out reunion show at London’s O2 Arena and career-retrospective box set release in 2018.

Mute founder Daniel Miller commented: I first worked with Dave Ball and Soft Cell over forty years ago when I produced their debut single ‘Memorabilia’. We were all starting out at the time, learning as we went along. It was a wonderful experience. I have always had great respect for Dave and Marc and a love of subversive electronic music, so in the years following our work together I was thrilled to see Soft Cell enjoying success around the globe with the dark, beautiful and gloriously sordid music they created.

When the opportunity arose to become Dave’s publisher we did not hesitate. Welcoming Dave Ball to Mute Song completes a huge circle between the past and the present but the real excitement with Dave is the future. At Mute we are always looking forward and so is Dave Ball. The new Soft Cell album is sounding terrific and Dave is still very active with The Grid. To add to our joy we welcome Dave’s partner in The Grid, the genius Richard Norris, to the Mute Song family as well. Richard Norris and Dave Ball are two of the most important figures in British electronic music history and we are honoured to represent them both.

Dave Ball commented: I am pleased to sign a new publishing deal with Mute Song for my future projects including Soft Cell, The Grid and my solo productions. Daniel Miller was the first producer I ever worked with - he produced the first Soft Cell single Memorabilia, as well as the first demo of Tainted Love, so we go back a long way. I am very happy to be a part of the team.
Renegade Music’s Chris Smith, Soft Cell and The Grid’s manager, commented: It seems timely that this deal is inked 40 years since Daniel worked together with Dave and Marc Almond on the seminal club track Memorabilia, back in 1980. It’s also over 30 years since Richard Norris and Dave Ball started working together as The Grid and we feel it is now time for them to be re-evaluated in the dance music world. We all believe that Dave and Richard’s back catalogues, as well as future recordings, will make this partnership a long and fruitful one. I would like to extend my thanks to Daniel Miller, David McGinnis and Pepe Jansz at Mute for making this happen.

Dave Ball first topped the charts in 17 countries in 1981 with Marc Almond as the first ever successful British synth pop duo Soft Cell. Tainted Love went on to be one of the biggest selling singles of all time in the US, with Soft Cell selling over 20 million records during their career, and reaching the Top 5 across Europe and beyond with their own compositions including Say Hello, Wave Goodbye, Torch and Bedsitter.

Soft Cell have influenced a myriad of electronic acts since forming in 1978, trailblazing the likes of Pet Shop Boys and Erasure in the 1980s to Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails and many others in more recent times. They were sampled by Rihanna on her worldwide smash S.O.S, and continue to be heavily in demand for syncs around the world, most recently by Playstation, Magnum and Seat.

Richard Norris and Dave Ball formed The Grid in 1988 and have released five albums to date. Top 3 single Swamp Thing sold over a million copies in 1994, and was hit around the world. New material from The Grid is due later this year, with a new album also scheduled for 2022.

TAINTED NEWS!!! We've been promising you some major Soft Cell news for months and months now, and thankfully a combination of the restrictions ending and lining ducks up at this end will mean we can roll out all of our plans in the coming weeks ahead, and finally reveal all. What we can tell you right now though, is that on 7th July, a certain best-selling single turns 40 YEARS OLD!, and we will be marking it with a special re-release next month to kick things off. Mr Ball has been working on a new mix, and we have some other mixes coming in too, as well as some other activity over the summer. Tune in right here for more news on Tuesday 29th June. In the meantime, thank you for your continued support - we are so very nearly there and now is a very good time to be a Soft Cell fan! SCHQ xxx

Tainted Love 40 preorder is live NOW

https://www.softcell.co.uk/tainted-love/

NEW SOFT CELL ALBUM & TOUR!!!
We are delighted to finally announce the release of Soft Cell's fifth album, *Happiness Not Included, which will be released on Feb 25th 2022 featuring 12 brand new Marc Almond and Dave Ball songs. Album formats include picture disc vinyl, yellow vinyl, deluxe CD, cassette and download, and a selection of money-saving bundles is also available.

Pre-orders and more information: https://softcell.tmstor.es

The first single to be released from the album will be available this autumn, but if you pre-order the album now, you will receive a digital download of the track Heart Like Chernobyl on August 13th.

NEW SOFT CELL TOUR!!!
We are thrilled to also announce that Soft Cell will be playing a short UK tour in November where they will perform Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret in its entirety alongside hits, fan favourites and other surprises from across their career including a selection of brand new tracks from their forthcoming new album *Happiness Not Included.

Ticket pre-sales start at 10am (UK) on Wednesday 4th August and pre-sale codes are available with any pre-order purchase of *Happiness Not Included from https://softcell.tmstor.es



CD Tracklisting
1. 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

LP Tracklisting
SIDE A
1. Happy Happy
2. Polaroid
3. Bruises On My Illusions
4. Purple Zone
5. Heart Like Chernobyl
6. Light Sleepers

SIDE B
1. Happiness Not Included
2. Nostalgia Machine
3. I'm Not a Friend of God
4. Tranquiliser
5. New Eden