Creativity Quote by Marc Almond

There is a quiet defiance in Marc Almond framing his next record as "a collection of great songs, classic songs in a way". It reads less like a retreat into nostalgia than a conscious bid for durability in an industry engineered for churn. "Collection" matters: he is rejecting the algorithmic mandate that albums be thematic IP packages or mood playlists. He wants songs that can stand on their own, the way standards do, the way you remember a chorus years later without remembering the rollout.

The phrase "classic songs" is doing double duty. On the surface it signals craft: melody, structure, a lyrical spine. Underneath, it’s a claim about legacy. Almond is a veteran of eras when pop rewarded bold identity and dramatic storytelling; the Soft Cell shadow still follows him, but he’s also spent decades proving he’s more than one iconic hit. Saying "classic" is a way of stepping around the cheap bait of "comeback" narratives and aiming instead for canon-adjacent respectability: music that doesn’t need the scaffolding of trend, controversy, or novelty.

Then there’s the hedge: "in a way". That small qualifier is classic musician self-protection, an acknowledgment that chasing "timeless" can curdle into museum-piece pastiche. Almond is signaling intention without promising sanctimony. He’s not claiming to reinvent pop; he’s claiming to honor its fundamentals - and, pointedly, to make something that survives after the feed moves on.