Ben Frost

The great revolt of 1936 is a crucial moment in our history, and I do not understand those who choose to begin the narrative of Palestinian resistance with the Nakba. It is impossible to understand what happened during the Nakba without understanding what took place in 1936. That was the first major Palestinian uprising. It involved all of Palestine and mobilized the entire population. Of course, there had been revolts before, against the Ottomans or the British, but they did not have the same scope.
Annemarie Jacir

In 2024, Ben Frost stunned everyone with the release of “Scope Neglect”, an innovative work that fused electronics and distorted guitar into a bizarre alternative version of metal that no one had previously imagined. This was followed by the live album “Under Certain Light And Atmospheric” (2025) and the celebratory reissue of his debut album, his cosmic masterpiece, “Steelwound (20th Anniversary Edition)”.

With “Palestine 36 (Original Score)”, the soundtrack to the film by Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, he once again changes direction, delivering his most explicitly political album to date. This time, the usual electronic-industrial arsenal and violent distortions are gone, replaced by a full immersion in symphonic music, performed by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, with a compelling blend of classical orchestral instruments and traditional Arab and Persian ones (oud, tabla, maqam, ney), once again demonstrating how coexistence between different cultures is the only rational path forward.

Ben Frost’s idea of symphonic music does not seek strong, memorable themes, but unfolds as pure texture, alternating crescendos of tension with static moments that serve the film’s purpose. As the director explains, “Palestine 36” is a work that must recover, as in a psychoanalytic session, repressed memories. While the foolish claim that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7, 2023, and the more informed trace it back to the Nakba of 1948, Annemarie Jacir turns the clock back twelve years, to the great Arab revolt of 1936 against British authorization of Jewish immigration— a crucial event that has been erased from collective memory.

Ben Frost’s music seeks to become a tool for this collective psychoanalysis, with long string notes creating a hypnotic trance. There is no theme to lend a romantic or heroic sense to the events, only sonic textures that heighten tension (“May God Forgive You”), sometimes enveloped by electronic elements (“Kareem”), at other times carried by strings that immerse the listener in the film’s imagery (“Bread Or Bullets”).

All proceeds will be donated to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

02/05/2026