Forever recognizable for their insanely popular version of Tainted Love, Soft Cell was the leather edged ’80s band that most celebrated gothic sex and queer culture. Lead singer Marc Almond’s homosexuality and creative worldview definitely, and often ingeniously, shone through in every one of the band’s singles. 

The often dark landscapes of numbers such as Seedy Films and Martin, based on the George Romero classic, also make them a seemingly perfect band for horror soundtrack inclusion. Surprisingly, it has only been recently that their most famous tune has wound up in such genre based television shows as The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020) and Dead Ringers (2023).

But then again, our own imaginations might provide better celluloid context for such haunting yet hopeful numbers as Torch. Indeed, Almond’s homage to the divas who help inspire the loneliest among us, might just be the most perfect post-Pride Month tune in existence.