Hannah Peel has announced the release of her original score for Underland, Robert Petit’s film based on the Robert Macfarlane book of the same name. The album will be available on October 16 via Rivertones (Modern Nature), followed by a world premiere of the score, part of the Hannah Peel In Focus series at the Barbican on 23-24 October 2026.

The premiere performance of Underland has been adapted by Kieran Brunt and will be performed by contemporary vocal ensemble Shards. For this unique performance, the score combines choir and electronics with stunning imagery from the film, adapted for stage by the director, Robert Petit.

Talking about the source material, Peel says, “I had read Robert’s book back in 2019, and even included some words from it for my 2022 album ‘The Unfolding’. The chance to actually compose for the book’s film in return though: beautiful synchronicity!”

Going on to explain, “Scoring for these astronauts of the underworld, those sacred ancient cave systems, the mysteries of the universe’s secrets, exploring what would they actually sound like? Those haunting descents that remind us of our planet’s past and future, asking us to look deep into our ancestors’ stories and evaluate where we will go next, made it a profound film to work on. I used ancient Mayan Pod Trumpets and an iron age horn called a Carnyx mixed with baroque choir, string orchestra and synths to bring to life a score that had to combine mythology, technology and possibility.”

Hannah Peel In Focus is a two-day takeover at the Barbican, opening on Friday 23 October at Milton Court on 23 October with PIA – a brand-new live music and dance production for her 7-movement odyssey Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia (2020). The production was created with choreographer Katya Bourvis and creative producer Tala Lee-Turton, and will be shaped by the sound of a 17-piece brass band.

This will be followed on Saturday 24 October with the Underland premiere and a live performance by Hannah Peel & Beibei Wang of their recent album The Endless Dance (Real World Recordings), an album grounded in the strength of ancient concepts. This will be a rare chance to see the album performed, as it comes alive with the joy and freedom of play as together, the artists travel through the 24 solar terms of the Chinese calendar with a cornucopia of sound in tow – synths and prepared piano alongside traditional and unconventional percussion that includes rice bowls and a jawbone.

Hannah Peel
Underland Original Film Soundtrack
Rivertones

Into The Underland
Xibalba
Little Miss Why
Seeing In The Dark
All They Had Was Fire
Poverty Sinks Underground
Dark Matter Mass
The Waiting Wonder
Epochs And Aeons
The Crux
You Don’t See Sunlight
The Forbidden Tomb
The Earth Doesn’t Forget
The Uranium Lights Up
We Fall Together
Time Crumbles In Moments Like This
The Sacred Chamber
The Ascent
The Surface

Hannah Peel 2026 Live Dates

20 October – Gateshead, International with Beibei Wang
21 October – Glasgow, St Lukes with Beibei Wang
23 October – London, Barbican – PIA
24 October – London, Barbican with Beibei Wang

Pre-order Underland Original Film Soundtrack by Hannah Peel HERE