June 17, 2002 — Marc Almond and Dave Ball of Soft Cell will release their first album of new music together since 1984's This Last Night in Sodom. The new album, Cruelty Without Beauty will be released in the U.S. September 10, 2002. The U.K. band will tour the States in support of the record in late 2002, marking their first U.S. outing in 15 years.

The last weekend in June, Marc Almond will head out to San Francisco to headline the 32nd anniversary of the city's Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration. Almond is scheduled to perform on the main stage of the festival along with Dead or Alive, Marcella Detroit, Janis Ian and Pansy Division.

In the 1980's, Soft Cell's synthesized grooves helped launch the genre of electronic dance music. In 1981, the band topped the charts with their version of Ed Cobb's "Tainted Love."