Bruises On All My Illusions (single)

Recording
As noted with album announce, *Happiness Not Included was recorded during 2020 lockdowns, with Dave Ball and Marc Almond working separately on music and lyrics in different studios.

Release
Both CD single and vinyl EP were announced on 7 October, 2021, with the title song being available as digital single. Initial date of CD release was stated to be 26th November, but due to manufacturing delays it was postponed to February 2022, with ‘B-side’ track “Vapourise” getting early digital release on December 17th. The single was out in February 18th.

Personnel

 * Written-By (lyrics), vocals – Marc Almond
 * Written-By (music) – David Ball, John Savage (1, 2), Ricardo Mulhall (3)
 * Synthesizer – David Ball
 * Synthesizer, drum programming – Philip Larsen (4)
 * Production – Soft Cell, Philip Larsen
 * Remix, additional production – David Ball (3, 4), Philip Larsen (2-4), Chris Smith (2)
 * Sound engineering, mastering – Barry Grint
 * Executive production – Mark Langthorne, Chris Smith

Other version
Digital version of the single consisting of two tracks – original versions of “Bruises On All My Illusions” and “Vapourise”, appeared on streaming platforms on December 17th, with reveal of the latter track.

Artwork
Like most of *Happiness Not Included releases, cover image of Bruises On All My Illusions features abandoned Ferris wheel in Pripyat, Ukraine, where Chernobyl nuclear plant is located. This time the recolored photograph focuses closer on cabins of the wheel. Same artwork goes for digital single and vinyl EP. The design is credited to James McWilliam, idea by Chris Smith, photographer is unknown.

Trivia

 * Both song and singles were initially announced as “Bruises On My Illusions” – Marc Almond pointed out the error in titles on his and Soft Cell's official Instagram pages, which later was fixed.