Back To Nature
| Back To Nature | |
| Track by Soft Cell | |
 | |
| Year | 2018 |
| Recorded | Dean Street Studios Kick Studios |
| Written | Frank Tovey |
| Composed | Frank Tovey |
| Produced | Soft Cell |
| Genre | synth-pop |
| From | Magick Mutants |
| Also in | 1979–2019 *Happiness Now Completed |
Origin[edit | edit source]
Back To Nature was the first record and single by Frank Tovey, released under his stage name Fad Gadget in 1979. Both Marc Almond and Dave Ball were students in the same Fine Art department of Leeds Polytechnic as him. They decided to cover the song in memory of Tovey, who passed away in 2002.
Record and release[edit | edit source]
The recording took place around the same time or after the recording of new songs in 2018.[?] Almond recorded vocals in Dean Street Studios, Soho, London. Ball worked on music with co-producer Rick Mulhall in his Kick Studios. The cover is fairly close to original version, with Ball providing additional backing vocals on chorus. Due to limitations of 7" format, on which Magick Mutants EP was pressed, the 4 minutes long master version was shortened to nearly 2 minutes as vinyl edit.
The EP was released on 1 May 2019, as bonus to limited photo book To Show You I've Been There .... Prior that Dave Ball was promoting the song on radio and podcast interviews.[1][2] Upon release purchasers of books received both master and edit versions of “Back To Nature” as digital audio downloads.
Other versions[edit | edit source]
Instrumental[edit | edit source]
An instrumental version of the song appears on Magick Mutants promo CD, along with original master version, both sharing the same length.
Marc's Mix[edit | edit source]
Shortly after the release of EP, Marc Almond has announced on his social media pages that “Back To Nature” on it was mixed incorrectly, with his vocals being off key, thus he is going to fix it and later release correct version via YouTube.[3][4]
Track was re-mixed with Rob McFarlane in Dean Street Studios, where Almond initially recorded his vocals.[4] The outcome is Almond's vocal track being in tune with music, however Ball's singing parts became absence. It was released on Almond's official YouTube channel on July 15th, 2019, as slideshow video with images corresponding to the lyrics of the song; the video is credited to Katherine Rhodes.[5]
In 2023 Almond mentioned that “Back To Nature” will be released on upcoming compilation release accompanying the 2022 studio album *Happiness Not Included. It was revealed to be ‘Marc's Mix’ of the song in official announcement of the record, *Happiness Now Completed. The release is scheduled for July 28.
Dave Ball vocal version[edit | edit source]
A shortened version with Dave Ball singing the entire song, without Almond, was released in June 2020 on his deluxe CD compilation 1979–2019.
Personnel[edit | edit source]
- Written-By – Frank Tovey
- Vocals – Marc Almond
- Instruments, vocals – David Ball
- Production – Soft Cell
- Engineering, programming – Rick Mulhall
- Engineering (vocals) – Jonny Solway, Rob McFarlane
- Mixing – Philip Larsen
Lyrics[edit | edit source]
Written by Frank Tovey
Back to nature
Caravan on canvey sand
Back to nature
Glucose filled, and programmed to respond
Chorus
It's gonna rain all night
But we'll be alright
Under the geodesic dome
Infrared heats it just like home
Sitting in the shade of a rubber tree
I'll kiss you and you'll kiss me
Back to nature
Burning bodies in the sun
Back to nature
Just like lemmings, every one
Back to nature
Catalyst aircraft fill the air
Back to nature
Aerosol ambre solaire
Chorus
Kiss me,kiss me,kiss me
(For Frank)
Availability[edit | edit source]
“Back To Nature” appears on following records.
| Year | Title | Type | Version | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 
|
Magick Mutants | EP | Vinyl edit |
|
Magick Mutants (promo CD) |
EP | Master | |
| Instrumental | ||||
| 2020 | 
|
1979–2019 | Compilation | Dave Ball vocal version |
| 2023 | 
|
*Happiness Now Completed | Compilation | Marc's Mix |
Listen[edit | edit source]
- Official uploads on YouTube
- “Soft Cell - Back To Nature” (Marc's Mix)
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ HIT THE NORTH: FT. GUEST DAVE BALL (SOFT CELL) (Interview with Dave Ball at Boogaloo Radio). Mike Smith and Rob Owen. 2 April 2019. (Mixcloud)
- ↑ Dave Ball - Soft Cell (Interview with Dave Ball for the Strange Brew podcast). Jason Barnard. 7 June 2019. (thestrangebrew.co.uk)
- ↑ Marc Almond on Twitter: “A bit pissed that on hearing the SC version of Fad Gadgets Back to Nature .... 17 May 2019. (Twitter) archived
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Marc Almond on Instagram: “With @robmacfarlanesound @deanststudios . Rob and Me remixing .... 17 May 2019. (Instagram)
- ↑ Marc Almond on Instagram: “New mix of Soft Cell's tribute version of Back To Nature .... 17 July 2019. (Instagram)
