PET SHOP BOYS - A Man From The Future

“A Man From The Future” is the title of the new project from the Pet Shop Boys, an album created by fusing the English duo's signature synth-pop sonorities with orchestral contributions to shape a precise artistic statement: a concept album about the life of Alan Turing. It's not hard to guess where Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant's interest in this figure comes from: as is well known, Turing, considered the father of computing and the modern computer, was criminalized and persecuted because of his homosexuality, and took his own life (though doubts remain about this) at the age of 41. The Pet Shop Boys, who have always stood in solidarity with the queer community and been open about all sexual orientations – recall that Tennant came out as far back as 1994 – inevitably find a fundamental interest in a figure like Turing. An innovator, a misunderstood genius and a visionary who, because of the hypocrisies and mental limitations of his era, was, on account of his sexuality, hero and victim, legend and martyr all at once.

So here's the concept, spread across eight tracks that musically sit somewhere between a vintage 80s soundtrack in the style of Tangerine Dream and the thematic musical concepts/documentaries of Public Service Broadcasting. That's the part that works. What doesn't work is the unfortunate decision to build a spoken word narrative in place of singing and melody, entrusted to actress Juliet Stevenson.
So yes, the songs trace Turing's life, exploring the full complexity of his career and his existence in an otherwise critical moment in history, including perhaps his most memorable contribution, even for those with no interest in technology: cracking the Nazi Enigma cipher machine, a feat that was crucial to the Allied victory in the Second World War. And naturally there's no shortage of exploring all the implications tied to Turing's repressed and hidden sexuality, his persecution and his tragic end.
On paper, all perfect. Too bad that, mainly because of the spoken narration, the result on record is rather uninteresting and decidedly tedious. The nobility of intent can't save a project that, in its final form, sounds more like something you'd hear wandering around a museum with an audio guide in your ears. But if that was the goal, then chapeau.

We shouldn't forget that we're talking about two of the greatest hitmakers of their era, a duo who in the 80s brought a genuine revolution to the synth-pop scene, bridging the gap toward dance and techno at the turn of the decade and giving the world unforgettable melodies and hits that still get radio play today. Needless to say, even setting aside the fact that four decades have passed, in “A Man From The Future” none of that is to be found, unfortunately. It would be wrong to call this a “bad” record, and here more than ever it's a matter of taste: an academic interest in a work like this can certainly exist, and the ambition definitely deserves credit. After all, the Pet Shop Boys are no strangers to this kind of high-minded project, having composed a soundtrack for the celebrated “Battleship Potemkin” by Eisenstein (yes, the one with the 92 minutes of applause) or the ballet “The Most Incredible Thing”, based on a story by Hans Christian Andersen.
Still, one can't shake the impression that, in this specific case, the story would have been told better in the traditional synth-pop song format more familiar to the duo and their audience. “A Man From The Future” is a sprawling, repetitive work that is none too engaging regardless of the story being told – and that's saying something, given that Turing's own biographer, Andrew Hodges, collaborated on the lyrics. It will most likely appeal to academic circles and (maybe) conservatory professors, but for everyone else, this is not a recommended listen.

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24/10/2026