Pet Shop Boys Reveal A Man From The Future

Pet Shop Boys present A Man From The Future, a new album that spans eight tracks and serves as a musical memorial to Alan Turing. The work explores eight significant chapters in the life and death of Alan Turing. Parlophone will release A Man From The Future on 9 October 2026. The project blends electronic and orchestral music with spoken-word elements.

Music and lyrics are by Pet Shop Boys with collaboration from Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing’s biographer. Narration is by Juliet Stevenson, drawn from Hodges’ book Alan Turing: The Enigma. String arrangements are by Sven Helbig and are performed by the Manchester Camerata Octet, and the Manchester Grammar School choir sings on four tracks. The material originated in writing from 2012 to 2013 and was performed at a BBC Prom in July 2014 at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers. Hodges updated the spoken text, and Helbig revised the orchestral elements to be played by eight string players.

A Man From The Future is presented as an eight-track work that examines eight significant chapters in the life and death of Alan Turing. The album combines electronic and orchestral textures with spoken-word passages to shape its narrative arc. The music and lyrics are credited to Pet Shop Boys and the release is scheduled by Parlophone on 9 October 2026. The project is described as a musical memorial to Alan Turing and foregrounds both his professional contributions and the personal injustices he suffered.

Principal collaborators on the project include Andrew Hodges, who contributed as the biographer-author of the spoken material, and actress Juliet Stevenson, who provides the narration drawn from Hodges’ book Alan Turing: The Enigma. Sven Helbig created the string arrangements that were adapted for performance by the Manchester Camerata Octet. The Manchester Grammar School choir takes part on four tracks, adding a choral element to the spoken and musical textures.

The work originated in writing completed between 2012 and 2013 and was presented at a BBC Prom in July 2014 at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers. For the recorded presentation, Andrew Hodges updated the spoken text and Sven Helbig revised orchestral elements so they could be played by eight string players. The combination of narration, revised arrangements and choral participation is central to the album’s presentation and structure.

The project began with writing from 2012 to 2013 and was developed by Pet Shop Boys as a musical memorial to Alan Turing. The initial material was composed and structured to span a set of eight pieces that examine chapters in Turing’s life and death. The creators framed the work around both electronic and orchestral elements and incorporated spoken-word passages as part of the composition.

The piece received an early public presentation at a BBC Prom in July 2014 at the Royal Albert Hall, where it was performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers. That Prom performance is part of the project’s documented development and public reception prior to its recording edition. The project retained its narrative focus on Alan Turing throughout subsequent revisions.

Andrew Hodges updated the spoken text used in the work, and Sven Helbig revised the orchestral elements so they could be played by eight string players. Sven Helbig’s string arrangements are performed by the Manchester Camerata Octet, and the Manchester Grammar School choir participates on four tracks. These revisions and contributions are recorded elements of the project’s development history.

The Pet Shop Boys said the following: “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.”

Pet Shop Boys described the album as a musical memorial to Alan Turing and framed its purpose around his life and legacy. The group said, “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.” The album notes that Turing made a massive contribution to the defeat of Germany in World War II and that he was a pioneer of computing who imagined a world with intelligent computers. The Pet Shop Boys also noted that Turing looked forward to a time when being gay would be accepted as normal and that in both his professional and private lives he was ahead of his time.

The project presents these elements across eight significant chapters of Turing’s life and death and uses a combination of electronic and orchestral music alongside spoken-word passages to convey its themes. Narration is drawn from Andrew Hodges’ book Alan Turing: The Enigma and is performed by Juliet Stevenson, and string arrangements by Sven Helbig are included in the recorded edition. The Manchester Grammar School choir appears on four tracks, contributing choral textures to the memorial presentation. Revisions to the spoken text by Andrew Hodges and to the orchestral elements by Sven Helbig were made so the material could be realised in the release edition.

A Man From The Future consolidates the project’s creative contributions and thematic focus by presenting music and lyrics by Pet Shop Boys alongside collaboration from biographer Andrew Hodges, narration by Juliet Stevenson, string arrangements by Sven Helbig performed by the Manchester Camerata Octet, and choral participation from the Manchester Grammar School choir on four tracks.

The work frames eight significant chapters in the life and death of Alan Turing through a blend of electronic and orchestral textures and spoken-word passages, and the recorded edition reflects revisions in spoken text by Andrew Hodges and revised orchestral elements by Sven Helbig adapted for eight string players.

The project’s development history includes initial writing carried out between 2012 and 2013 and an early performance at a BBC Prom in July 2014 at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers, and Parlophone will release the recorded edition on 9 October 2026.

The album is presented by the Pet Shop Boys as a musical memorial to Alan Turing and the recorded release brings together the collaborative creative team, the thematic chapters about Turing’s contributions and personal challenges, and the combined musical formats of electronic, orchestral and spoken word.