23 September 2026
Newsdesk
Acclaimed saxophonist, rapper, and composer Soweto Kinch will release Soundtrack to the Apocalypse on Friday, 20 November 2026 via LSO Records.
The album captures the live recording of Kinch’s landmark orchestral work during its world premiere at the Barbican in November 2025. The release marks the third and final installment of a six-year creative collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra, documenting one of the most ambitious cross-genre projects in contemporary British music.
To celebrate the release, Kinch will return to the Barbican on Thursday, 19 November 2026 as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra, the special Trilogy concert will unite all three of his symphonic works live for the first time: The Black Peril (2019), White Juju (2022), and Soundtrack to the Apocalypse.
The trilogy traces a distinct arc of social commentary. The Black Peril examined the racial violence following the First World War, while White Juju responded to lockdown, political polarization, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
In Soundtrack to the Apocalypse, Kinch reclaims the original Greek meaning of apocalypse—"to uncover" or "to reveal"—using a blend of jazz, hip hop, spoken word, and symphonic arrangements to address themes of technology, politics, race, and renewal.
Reflecting on the project, Kinch noted that the six-year partnership allowed him to refine his compositional voice while exploring new approaches to storytelling through large-scale orchestral music. He emphasized that music has always been fundamentally bound up with testimony, truth-telling, and liberation.
A Mercury Prize nominee, two-time MOBO Award winner, and BBC Radio 3 presenter, Kinch's final chapter with the LSO reflects the complex realities of contemporary life while searching for collective future possibilities.
Soundtrack to the Apocalypse will be available across digital platforms and physical formats on Friday, 20 November 2026 via LSO Records. Tickets for the EFG London Jazz Festival performance at the Barbican are available now.
