Soft Cell Are Set For Their First Ever Australian Tour

Sometimes you feel you’ve got to… run away. And that’s what 80s iconic synth-pop band SOFT CELL will be doing in April 2025 with their first-ever tour of Australia. This announcement will have all fans of the decade donning their fluro and leathers, Brit synth-pop band Soft Cell will be touring Australia for the very first time in April 2025, performing their classic album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret in its entirety, including hits like the iconic Tainted Love, the fan favourite Where Did Our Love Go, and more!

In addition to the band’s hits, Marc Almond will perform his solo hits from a career that spans over 40 years. The duo will be finger-clicking their way across both coasts of Australia in April, making sure fans in Perth don’t miss out on this much-anticipated series of gigs. Marc Almond answers a few questions for Hi Fi Way ahead of the tour.

Is there a sense of excitement and relief that your first ever Australian tour is finally going to happen?
Yes, I’m very excited about coming to Australia for the first time in my life and to be able to perform there both as part of Soft Cell and a solo artist is a dream come true.

How challenging has it been to make this tour happen?
Very challenging , so many times offers have fallen through and even this one has at times been on a knife edge. We’re coming over as a large touring party including my full band for my solo set and everyone involved in the Soft Cell show. It’s a lot to organise.

What are you looking forward to most about touring Australia?
Just seeing what people come to the shows and getting a chance to see my audience and fans close up. I’m hoping too that I get to see as much of the beautiful country as possible.

So much music from your career, how will you fit it all in?
It’s impossible to cover all the ground of a forty-six plus year career so I’ll be sticking to the hits and most popular songs. Nod’s though to both the last Soft Cell album Happiness Not Included and my last solo album I’m Not Anyone.

Does it continually amaze you about the legacy that Tainted Love continues to build?
That song has taken on its own life over the years and become much bigger than me. It’s a classic and become a part of iconic Pop Culture, still often on the radio and featured in films and TV shows and social media. Tainted Love even made the Guinness book of records for the track that spent the longest time in the American Billboard top 100.

Many artists have covered the song but which one has impressed you the most?
I still love the Gloria Jones and Ruth Swann originals and thanks to the Worldwide success of our version people went back to discover these.

Did you ever feel the pressure to create another hit single similar to Tainted Love?
In the early 80’s there was maybe a little pressure at first and expectations for another Tainted Love from the Record Company , but you can’t always duplicate such a huge titanic success . There were so many different elements that all came together at that time. All Soft Cell’s first five singles were Top 5 in the UK so the record company weren’t that disappointed.

Do you think music today has lost its soul?
No not really, there is such diverse new Music to listen to, and with streaming and download platforms so much to discover, If anything there’s too much choice sometimes and a lot of Music is lost or buried or has a short life as do many Artists sadly. There is always hunger for something new as maybe people have shorter attention spans. The great thing is though that there’s a chance for different generations on these platforms to discover a lot of so called Retro or Heritage sounds too from decades past, there’s a rich variety out there.

Tell us about your last solo album I’m Not Anyone?
My last solo record I’m not Anyone is a collection of covers. Every so often I like to curate and record an album of cover songs, firstly so I can go on a musical discovery journey listening to hundreds of songs hoping it’ll inspire me when going forward in my own song writing. I pick songs that have emotional resonance and reflect where I am in my life. I think I’m Not Anyone is one of my best cover collections, especially vocally working with producer Mike Stevens who played most of the instruments. The songs are from the late 60’s and early 70’s which was a golden time of music for me.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Soft Cell performing Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret plus the Greatest Hits plus Marc Almond playing all his solo hits and more on the following dates, tickets from Destroy All Lines…