It was songwriter and producer Chris Braide – who has worked with Lana del Rey, David Guetta, Beyoncé and Britney Spears – who urged the former Soft Cell singer to make “the ultimate Marc Almond album”. But anyone familiar with his modus operandi might say he’s always been making “the ultimate Marc Almond album”– he’s forever on the emotional outer limits, a self-created romantic star. The Velvet Trail has plenty of the Almond trademarks. There are darkly transgressive sexual practices: “You did something bad to me,” he sings on Bad to Me. There’s melodrama: the album is presented in three “acts”, each heralded by a short orchestral instrumental track, while the defiant Life in My Own Way takes us to 1930s Berlin cabaret. But by and large, the Velvet Trail is straight-ahead pop, with big choruses and melodies, and Almond’s voice – although it no longer veers out of tune like it used to so endearingly in the 80s – is still enthralling.
