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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv4QNTg1Mps

SOFT CELL TEAM UP WITH PET SHOP BOYS FOR THE NEW SINGLE ‘PURPLE ZONE’

FEATURES ON THE NEW ALBUM ‘*HAPPINESS NOT INCLUDED’ - OUT MAY 6TH

“Here is how you’d hope the 21st century would sound. Mightily impressive.” 4.5/5 - Classic Pop

“Buoyed by an undimmed pop instinct and Almond’s waspish wit.” 4/5 - Uncut

“A fabulous comeback.” 4/5 - Daily Star

“A band looking as much to its future as its past.” - Clash



Having closed 2021 with a critically acclaimed sold-out UK tour, Soft Cell today take another big step towards the May 6th release of their eagerly anticipated fifth studio album ‘*Happiness Not Included’ by sharing the new single ‘Purple Zone’, a new collaboration with Pet Shop Boys. ‘Purple Zone’ was one of five new songs that were performed throughout the tour, prompting fans to state, “Such a brilliant song, classic Soft Cell!”

Pet Shop Boys attended one of the tour’s London shows, and immediately picked out ‘Purple Zone’ as one of their favourites from the evening. The two legends of electro-pop initially planned for Pet Shop Boys to remix the song, but their collaboration quickly mutated into a full collaboration. Not only is their collaboration a brand new single release, but this version has also been added to the ‘*Happiness Not Included’ tracklist.

‘Purple Zone’ is now a dream duet for synth-pop connoisseurs as Marc Almond’s ultra-expressive delivery intertwines with Neil Tennant’s wistful yearning, encapsulating the existential questions about the passing of time that are posed throughout the course of the album. Raising its tempo, Pet Shop Boys also added a hi-NRG sheen that elevates the track’s moody melancholy, Chris Lowe’s trademark high-drama synths producing a theatrical intensity.

Marc Almond says, “Working with the Pet Shop Boys was a pleasure, and this track is the perfect combination of us and them."

Dave Ball comments, “‘Purple Zone’ is probably our finest pop moment since the early 1980s”

Pet Shop Boys add, “We are thrilled to collaborate with such an inspirational duo as Soft Cell on this gorgeous song.”

It’s been two decades since Soft Cell last released an album, but the influential synth-pop duo still provoke a huge amount of public fascination. News of ‘*Happiness Not Included’ sparked international attention from the likes of Brooklyn Vegan, Clash, Classic Pop, NME, Pitchfork and The Quietus - in the process igniting a platform for them to add to their previous achievements: 25 million sales, six UK top 10 singles and a BRIT Award. Their innovative cocktail of songcraft and future-facing production continues to cast an influence over the wider world of music, as most recently demonstrated by Jamie Jones’ remix of the era-defining smash ‘Tainted Love’.

Video is fun to watch! There’s a four-track CD single and a four-track 12-inch vinyl in the pipeline. The latter has two Pet Shop Boys remixes not available on the CD which is bad news (last year's Be A Rebel (New Order) had all the commercial (re-)mixes). However, these releases are planned for november (!) so that's half a year after the new Soft Cell album.

I received the CD single for Purple Zone this past weekend and the CD was not a standard CD. I had seen a note about this on Discogs so examined it when it arrived. I contacted Lexer music where I ordered it from and they sent me the information below from BMG. Just wanted to send a heads up. The disc looks to be somewhere in between a standard CD and a CDr. Sad they would do this.

“The initial run would have been glass mastered as it was a substantial volume. This is the same process as any other mass produced CD that we manufacture.

The smaller re-runs are likely to be duplicated (as opposed to replicated). This is far more cost effective for lower runs and offers a much faster turnaround. There should be no issue in terms of audio playback (these are of a much higher quality than CD-Rs you burn in the computer which skip and jump all over the place!).

We’ve been producing CD singles like this for some time now and we’ve never seen a complaint before now “

The whole campaign for the Soft Cell reboot has been a car crash. Starting with the exclusive 10" of new Tainted Love remixes that are finally coming out a year after! Then the awful Tchernobyl track used as promotion only. Followed by an album that got pushed back because of Vinyl manufacturing problems. Meanwhile the first official single got released on CD only (the 12" comes 6 months later and is not available anywhere!). Then comes the disappointing mixes of Purple Zone and this question of CD vs CDR pressing with a 12" that comes out another 6 months later. Now announcing the 3rd single which again has at least 6 months delay between CD and 12".
That's chaotic and BMG doesn't seem to give to give much support to this project, but after all the album itself is not very good (only half the tracks are strong IMHO). Maybe Soft Cell is just like the Human League, good for nostalgia gigs.

Thanks for the tip re the Tainted Love 10". I just ordered a copy from Lexer and it said '6 left' before I ordered mine.

André wrote:Soft Cell is just like the Human League, good for nostalgia gigs.

alas, right to the point.....