Pet Shop Boys have announced A Man From The Future – a new eight-track album created in collaboration with Alan Turing biographer Andrew Hodges exploring the father of theoretical computer science’s pioneering work and legacy. Because apparently, delving into the life of a British mathematician and cryptanalyst is the perfect excuse for Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe to get back into the studio and create some new music. I mean, who needs a traditional concept album when you can make one about the father of computer science? Nature is healing, and another interesting album has appeared, and I must say, I am intrigued.
The work explores eight significant chapters in the life and death of Turing and will be released as an album on 9 October via Parlophone Records. Alongside music and lyrics by Pet Shop Boys is a narration, spoken by actress Juliet Stevenson, taken from Andrew Hodges’ book Alan Turing: The Enigma, which has been edited and extended by Neil Tennant and Andrew Hodges. The music is a combination of electronics and strings with arrangements by Sven Helbig performed by the Manchester Camerata Octet. Boys from Manchester Grammar School choir also sing on four tracks. The album was produced by Pet Shop Boys and Sven Helbig.
The eight tracks explore the life, death and influence of the pioneering British mathematician and cryptanalyst who laid the foundations of modern computing. Turing’s story unfolds chronologically from his school days, with his initial interest in mathematics and science and his realisation of his sexuality, to his university days at Cambridge, his leading role working for the British Government unlocking the German Enigma machine’s encrypted messages during World War II, his place in the invention of the digital computer, his prediction of intelligent computers, his trial and conviction for a homosexual relationship, and then his suicide in 1954. Pet Shop Boys say: “Our motive in creating this work was to make a musical memorial to Alan Turing who gave so much to his country and the world and was rewarded for it by being prosecuted for his sexuality. Alan made a massive contribution to the defeat of Germany in World War II and was a pioneer of computing, imagining a world with intelligent computers. He also looked forward to a time when being gay would be accepted as normal. In both his professional and private lives, he was ahead of his time.”
The Birth of A New Project
Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe originally wrote the work with Andrew Hodges in 2012-13 and performed it with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers at a late-night BBC Prom in July 2014 at the Royal Albert Hall. Over a decade later they decided to revise the piece to give it more of an electronic emphasis and Sven Helbig suggested reworking his orchestrations in a more intimate arrangement for eight string players. Andrew Hodges suggested updates to the spoken text. I suppose this is what happens when you have too much time on your hands – you end up reworking old projects and trying to make them sound fresh again. Somewhere, a record label executive felt a disturbance in the royalties, and suddenly, a new album was born.
A World Premiere
The BBC will premiere A Man From The Future as a world exclusive this October. BBC Radio 6 Music will broadcast the 2026 edition on Sunday 4 October within Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone (8-10pm), and Stuart will hear from Pet Shop Boys and Andrew Hodges about the creative process behind the reworking, and their interest in blending electronic and orchestral music. The piece will then broadcast on BBC Radio 3 later that evening within Unclassified (11.30pm-12.30am) as the Pet Shop Boys and Andrew Hodges join presenter Elizabeth Alker in the studio to reflect on the original performance and its 2026 evolution. Both programmes will be available on BBC Sounds for 30 days after transmission. Audiences outside the UK can listen live on bbc.com/audio. Because, of course, the world was waiting with bated breath for the premiere of this album.
A Listening and Conversation Event
Pet Shop Boys and Andrew Hodges will also take part in a listening and conversation event for A Man From The Future on Thursday 8 October at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester. The event will feature a full playback of the album followed by a discussion about the work by Pet Shop Boys and Andrew Hodges. Tickets for the event go on sale on Monday 7 September at 10am BST here. The conversation will also be filmed and made available online shortly afterwards. Nobody truly retires in this industry; they merely wait for the right moment to release a new project. And so, the Pet Shop Boys are back, and they are bringing Alan Turing with them.
The album’s tracklisting includes: Natural wonders every child should know, He dreamed of machines, The Enigma, Other ranks, The memory and the control, The trial, Only in his death, A man from the future. A Man From The Future is released on 9 October and can be pre-ordered here. It will be available on vinyl, CD, Blu-ray audio and digitally. Because, in this day and age, you need to release your music in every possible format to satisfy the fans. The remaster economy remains undefeated, and the record labels are laughing all the way to the bank. Music historians are preparing fresh shelves for the box set, and I am preparing myself for the inevitable deluxe edition that will follow. A vinyl pressing plant somewhere just burst into tears, knowing that they will have to work overtime to meet the demand for the vinyl edition of this album. The farewell tour count has officially entered scientific notation, and I am starting to lose count of how many times the Pet Shop Boys have retired and come back. But hey, who needs retirement when you can keep making music and touring? The Pet Shop Boys are back, and they are not going anywhere anytime soon.
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