So often, the singer is the sound of the record. People think they can cover anything, but the whole voice is the thing that's unrepeatable.

I think the older I get the more creative I get, I don't have the distractions that I had when I was younger.

The weird thing was that Soft Cell was supposed to have come and gone before I started the album.

Knowing what I knew about Russia, as much as I loved the music and was fascinated by the songs and the whole idea of it, I knew it would be a very lengthy and frustrating process.

I was very much a mess, as a person. I'd come from a very turbulent teenage life, with parents who had broken up in a very bad way, and a lot of illness at school.

I'm always more interested in trying things that will push me, and I don't care if I fall flat on my face doing it.

What was great about the 80s was that you still had record companies who would get behind developing you as an artist. You had these bonkers heads of department and A&R people who, even after a flop album, would let you make another one.