Dave Ball finished work on final Soft Cell album "days" before death

Dave Ball had completed work on a final Soft Cell album just “days” before his death on October 22, his bandmate, Marc Almond, has confirmed.

The legendary producer, synth player, and one-half of Soft Cell passed away last week aged 66 following a prolonged illness. Almond confirmed his passing, saying he “died peacefully in his sleep”.

In the same statement, Almond revealed that the duo had finished “the next (and now the last) album together” shortly before Ball’s death, titled ‘Danceteria’ – their first record in over three years.

Frontman Marc Almond said that Ball was “focused and happy with the new album” and believed it’s a “great piece of work”, confirming that it was completed “literally only days ago”.

“I listened to the complete album for the first time yesterday,” Almond wrote. “It makes me so sad as this would have been a great uplifting year for him and I can take solace that he heard this finished record and felt it was a great piece of work.”

He continued: “Dave's music is better than ever - his tunes, his hooks unmistakably Soft Cell. Yet he always took it to a different level.”

Almond also spoke on Ball’s “determined spirit” as he continued to work on new music and perform occasionally as Soft Cell despite his health being in “slow decline” over recent years.

“His last appearance was at the Rewind festival a few weeks ago, where we headlined to over 20,000 people, after which he was elated and given an enormous boost,” he said.

“It's fitting in many ways that the next (and now the last) album together is called ‘Danceteria’ as the theme takes us for a visit back to almost the start of it all, back to New York in the early ‘80s, the place and time that really shaped us.”

Almond said they felt like an “honorary American band as well as being quintessentially British”, adding that the new album will “close the circle” for the band.

“I wish he could have stayed on to celebrate 50 years in a couple of years time,” he said in tribute. “He will always be loved by fans who loved his music”.

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Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter