Soft Cell is a British synth-pop uo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. It consists of Marc Almond (vocals) and David Ball (synthesizers). Lyrics by the duo often focused on love and romance as well as the darker side of life, with subjects such as kinky sex, transexualism, drugs and murder. The duo had a huge world-wide hit in 1981 with a cover version of "Tainted Love".