In 2014 The Bet Shop Boys did a live recording for the BBC of Alan Turing’s life. After more than a decade, they decided to revisit the project and turn it into a studio record. Alan Turing was key to cracking messages coded by the Nazis, the father of modern computer engineering and a brilliant mathematician. He was also persecuted, arrested and shamed for being gay. He died by suicide after being arrested for “gross indecency” in 1952 and his arrest for essentially being gay was the catalyst for activism. Decades after his death, in 2013, Turing received an official pardon from the queen. His life is one of great highs and heroics, as well as oppression from the British government by living his truth. His bravery, intelligence and impact to the world is being celebrated by the Pet Shop Boys. Their new record A Man From the Future seeks to tell Turing’s life in full in order to properly celebrate who he was and the vast impact he has had on society.
Like all expertly and artistically crafted concept records A Man From the Future is quite dense with a lot to talk about. For the sake of this review, we will focus on the track He Dreamed of Machines. Having said that, I recommend that you listen to the whole record in one go, which is the Pet Shop Boys’ true vision. Your first thought with this track is that it’s not your average Pet Shop Boys. Gone are the Euro clubby synth pop beats and they are replaced with soaring electro orchestral landscapes. These arrangements are full of warmth and texture. I did not expect something so theatrical and epic from the Pet Shop Boys, but it really hits home. I think the choice to go so orchestral in scope my surprise some people, but it fits the vision. The more epic nature of the music with its layers and warmth gives the subject, Alan Turing’s life, the respect it deserves. Moreover, the exact nature of electro music really lends itself to the mathematical side of Turing. It has this sci – fi vastness to it that really fits Turing’s mathematic side and I adore it.
Now, there is more than just gorgeous music. Turing was more than a human computer, he was a man who experienced love and lived in the world. Therefore, the track needs a human connection to balance against the mathematical synth. On this track, and most tracks on the record, artist Juliet Stevenson narrates aspects of Turing’s life over the synth. Her voice has a museum or documentary quality to it. This is not a turn off, but reminds you that Turing was a person…he was more than math or the face of computer science, he was a man who experienced a gross injustice. Juliet reminds you about his life and centres Turing on the track. The key to the track working though is Tennant. His vocal is sparse, but gets us out of a doco space and into the humanity behind the math. We need his vocal…or else we’ll feel like we are in a museum and not listening to a record. The balance between Stevenson and Tennant really makes the track work. Having these vocals next to strings and the epic nature of the track works well.
This record, A Man From the Future, is their most ambitious project and they pull it off flawlessly. It is a gorgeous record to listen to and deepens the life of a brilliant man who endured great injustices. The brilliance and tragedy of Turing’s life is captured really well on the record. Tracks like He Dreamed of Machines are beautiful tellings of Turing’s life and treat Turing with respect and reverence. This album may not have a top 10 hit on it, but it’s a beautiful and heartfelt artistic achievement.
Listen to He Dreamed of Machines
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