Alongside music and lyrics by Pet Shop Boys, the record features narration by actress Juliet Stevenson, drawn from Andrew Hodges‘ book Alan Turing: the Enigma, edited and extended by Neil Tennant and Hodges. The music combines electronics with strings arranged by Sven Helbig and performed by the Manchester Camerata Octet, with boys from Manchester Grammar School choir also featuring on four tracks. The album was produced by Pet Shop Boys and Sven Helbig.
The eight tracks move chronologically through Turing’s story, from his school days and early realisation of his sexuality, to his years at Cambridge, his leading role in cracking Germany’s Enigma machine during World War II, his role in the invention of the digital computer, his prediction of Artificial Intelligence, his 1952 trial and conviction for a homosexual relationship, and his 1954 suicide. The closing track features a passage from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown‘s 2009 statement acknowledging Turing’s work, followed by the posthumous royal pardon granted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2013.
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe originally wrote the piece with Andrew Hodges in 2012-13 and performed it with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers at a late-night BBC Prom in July 2014 at the Royal Albert Hall. Over a decade on, they have revised the work to lean further into its electronic side, with Helbig reworking his orchestrations into a more intimate eight-string arrangement and Hodges updating the spoken text.
The BBC will premiere ‘A man from the future’ as a world exclusive on Sunday 4 October: BBC Radio 6 Music airs the piece within Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone (8-10pm), with Radio 3 following inside Unclassified later the same evening. In addition, Pet Shop Boys and Andrew Hodges will host a listening and conversation event at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester on Thursday 8 October, with tickets on sale from 7 September. Pre-order ‘A man from the future’ via the official Pet Shop Boys website.
Purchases made through our links may earn us a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
