Fronted by composer, programmer, and multi-instrumentalist Jason Swinscoe, the ensemble known as The Cinematic Orchestra traces its origins to 1990, when Swinscoe assembled his initial band, Crabladder, while studying art at Cardiff College. That project’s blend of jazz and hardcore punk with experimental rhythms prompted Swinscoe to investigate sampling more deeply; after Crabladder disbanded in the mid-’90s, he began working as a DJ at clubs and pirate radio outlets across the U.K.
Recordings he made independently during this period fused ’60s and ’70s jazz, orchestral soundtracks, rhythm loops, and live playing into boundary-crossing pieces, evident in his track for Ninja Tune’s 1997 Ninja Cuts 3 compilation and in his reworkings of material by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Coldcut. The Cinematic Orchestra extended this approach by inviting live players to improvise over sampled percussion and bass lines. Core members included saxophonist/pianist Tom Chant, bassist Phil France, and drummer Daniel Howard, all of whom joined Swinscoe on the Channel One Suite and Diabolus EPs for Ninja Tune.
The group’s debut album, Motion, appeared in 1999 and earned widespread praise, leading to a performance at the Directors’ Guild Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony honoring Stanley Kubrick in London later that year. Following the 1998–2000 remixes collection, Every Day arrived in 2002 and featured vocal contributions from Fontella Bass and Roots Manuva. In 2003 the band issued Man with a Movie Camera on both CD and DVD, documenting a score originally created in 1999 for a revival of the 1929 Soviet documentary; four years afterward came Ma Fleur. Live at the Royal Albert Hall was released in spring 2008.
During 2011 the ensemble programmed a series of events at London’s Barbican Centre that paired classic silent films with newly composed soundtracks; selections from those performances were gathered on the 2012 album The Cinematic Orchestra Presents: In Motion #1. The next year bassist Phil France issued his first solo effort, The Swimmer, after which the collective entered an extended period of inactivity. A 2016 single, “To Believe,” featuring Moses Sumney, marked their return and ultimately previewed the full-length To Believe, which surfaced in 2019. Their first official album since Ma Fleur, the atmospheric electronic work contained the title track plus appearances by Roots Manuva, Heidi Vogel, Tawiah, and Grey Reverend.
