Floating Points Surprise Releases New Album—a Ballet Score About Pandora’s Box

Floating Points has released Mere Mortals, his score to a ballet of the same name, which gets its European premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival tonight (August 28). The San Francisco Ballet production, which debuted in 2024, retells the myth of Pandora, who opened the box that unleashed humanity’s evil into the world. But, says, Floating Points’ Sam Shepherd, “If you look at how her story was translated over time, she was completely stripped of her agency and kindness. Pandora’s about bringing hell to Earth. She really represents curiosity and change.” Listen to the album below, via Deutsche Grammophon.

The score was originally commissioned by the San Francisco Ballet’s artistic director, Tamara Rojo, with choreography by Aszure Barton. The story ends on a mournful note, with hope flying free from Pandora’s jar only to circle a planet reduced to ash, soundtracked by album closer “Nowhere to Land.” Adds Shepherd, “When I heard the music I’d written on the page transformed by Cordula [Merks]’s exquisite violin-playing it made me excited to write more in the future!”