Marc Almond Releases New Single 'Elusive Butterfly' Ahead of Album and Tour

Art pop icon Marc Almond has released his cover of the 1965 Bob Lind classic "Elusive Butterfly" as the first single from his forthcoming covers album I'm Not Anyone releasing July 12. Listen below.

Almond's mastery of re-imagining originals goes all the way back to his tenure in Soft Cell with his cover of the 1964 Gloria Jones track "Tainted Love". For I'm Not Anyone he is covering a wide range of tunes, including the title track by Sammy Davis, Jr. and Paul Anka. Other songs include Blue Cheer's 1971 track "I'm The Light" and 1969's "I Talk To The Wind" from prog-rock icons King Crimson.

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From the press release, Almond says, "I always approach curating an album of covers with a lot of joy as it means a year or so of listening to songs, old and new, making lists from which I add or subtract songs and in the process discover, or rediscover, some half-forgotten gems. Living now in Portugal, I've found the time to not only reflect on my life but to also rediscover my love for music and songs. A great song can never die and should always find a new life and audience."

The 66-year-old singer is entering his 45th year in the music industry. He and partner Dave Ball formed the synth-pop duo Soft Cell in 1979 and scored the massive hit "Tainted Love" (interpolated with "Where Did Our Love Go") in 1981 on both the U.S. and U.K. charts. After Soft Cell disbanded in 1984, Almond went solo and with his fourth release The Stars We Are and the single "Tears Run Rings" secured his best-selling release in the U.S. to date.

He then embarked on a diverse range of musical projects, even relocating to Russia in 2000 for three years to study the country's romance and folk music, resulting in 2003's album of traditional Russian songs, Heart on Snow. That followed an Icelandic-inspired album in 2001, Stranger Things.

The singer suffered near-tragedy in 2004 when he crashed his motorcycle near St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The accident was so severe that friend and musician Jools Holland said in an interview with The Standard in 2018, "He bashed his head and was in a coma, and we all thought that was going to be the end of him... Candles were lit, prayers were said, that was all we could do."

After recovering, Almond toured with Holland, promoting their album A Lovely Life to Live. In recent years, he has re-formed Soft Cell for one-off gigs and recorded an album's worth of new material with Ball, 2022's Happiness Not Included.

Almond will play ChillFest on July 6 and then undertake a U.K. solo tour in September. Fans who pre-order I'm Not Anyone here will receive access to a ticket pre-sale which opens at 9am on Thursday, March 21st. It remains live until the remaining tickets go on general sale here from 9am on Tuesday, March 26th. See below for a list of dates.

8th - Leeds, Grand Theatre

9th - London, Coliseum

11th - Brighton, Dome

14th - Manchester, Bridgewater Hall

15th - Gateshead, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music Sage 1

16th - Birmingham, Symphony Hall

18th - Bristol, Beacon

21st - Edinburgh, Usher Hall

22nd - New Brighton, Floral Pavilion Theatre

Almond will also be a special guest of Holland, during the pianist's autumn/winter tour from October 31 through December 22.

I'm Not Anyone tracklist (with original source recordings):

1. ‘I’m The Light’ (Blue Cheer)

2. ‘Reflections Of My Life’ (Marmalade)

3. ‘Gone With The Wind (Is My Love)’ (Rita & The Tiaras/Gloria Jones)

4. ‘I Talk To The Wind’ (King Crimson)

5. ‘Elusive Butterfly’ (Bob Lind)

6. ‘I’m Not Anyone’ (Paul Anka / Sammy Davis Jr.)

7. ‘Smokey Day’ (Colin Blunstone)

8. ‘Trouble Of The World’ (Mahalia Jackson)

9. ‘Look To Your Soul’ (Johnny Rivers)

10. ‘Chain Lightning’ (Don McLean)

11. ‘Lonely Looking Sky’ (Neil Diamond)