Soft Cell's final album Danceteria leads a Friday with Protomartyr, Tinashe and Suede
Soft Cell released Danceteria, their sixth and last studio album, on September 25, 2026, a day after Madonna and Charli XCX's "Danceteria Afterhours", both named after the same Manhattan club; Dave Ball died in October 2025, after it was finished. The same Friday brought Protomartyr's Hotel Usona, Tinashe's Popstar and a Steven Wilson remix of Suede's Coming Up.
By Riffiter
Two records named after the same Manhattan club came out this week. Madonna and Charli XCX put out "Danceteria Afterhours" on Thursday, September 24, through Warner, a reworked Confessions II track. Soft Cell released Danceteria on Friday, September 25. It is the duo's sixth studio album and their last: Dave Ball died in October 2025, after it was finished. Friday also brought new albums from Protomartyr, Tinashe, Leon Bridges and Nothing But Thieves, and 30th-anniversary editions of records by Suede and Fatboy Slim.
Same club, opposite records
Danceteria was a real New York nightclub. On "Afterhours" Madonna goes back to her own nights there and names the people she ran into: Fab 5 Freddy, Basquiat, the Rock Steady Crew. Charli XCX gets a verse about being "sweet 15 in a weird outfit." It's a nostalgia record by two people who are still on top.
Soft Cell's album is a goodbye. Marc Almond and Ball started the band in 1979, and Danceteria closes a run of six albums over 46 years. Ball played Soft Cell's last show, at Rewind Festival, from a wheelchair after a back injury. The album was already mixed when he died. Almond has said Ball left him one instruction, as reported around the release: "Do me one favor: Don't chop the album to pieces. This is how I want it to be." Almond kept it that way. Far Out gave it 3.5 out of 5 and called it "a joyous record, albeit not matching their classic output."
The other three picks
Hotel Usona is Protomartyr's seventh album, recorded with Dave Fridmann at Tarbox Road. Joe Casey's idea is the country as an ageing hotel, and each song is one of its rooms. Luke Cartledge at Paste gave it a B+ and said the band sound as urgent as they have "since at least Relatives In Descent."
Popstar is Tinashe's eighth full-length, 16 tracks long. It closes the trilogy she started with BB/Ang3l in 2023 and Quantum Baby in 2024, and it moves between R&B, trap, jazz and short interludes built on TikTok samples. NME called it a "multi-faceted and effortlessly assured proclamation of self-worth."
Suede's Coming Up turns 30 with a new edition remixed by Steven Wilson, out through Demon Records as a 5CD box, a Blu-ray and half-speed vinyl. The 1996 record gave the band five UK top 10 singles ("Trash", "Beautiful Ones", "Saturday Night", "Lazy", "Filmstar") and their second Mercury Prize nomination.
Also out today
| Record | Artist | The case |
|---|---|---|
| Happiness Anytime | Leon Bridges | Fifth album, made with Jungle's Josh Lloyd-Watson and Lydia Kitto. Disco, Afrobeat and Brazilian rhythm instead of the soul revival he started with. Far Out gave it 3/10: "more soul-styled muzak than soul music." |
| Stray Dogs | Nothing But Thieves | Fifth album, after four singles. Dead Club City was their first UK number one in 2023, after albums that peaked at 7, 2 and 3. |
| Better Living Through Chemistry (30th Anniversary) | Fatboy Slim | Norman Cook's 1996 debut, reissued with new remixes and liner notes by Alexis Petridis. It entered the UK chart at 69 on first release (9 on the independent chart). |
The Fatboy Slim number is the one that surprises. Anyone who knows "Right Here, Right Now" would guess the original record did better than 69. You've Come a Long Way, Baby was still two years off.