Joel Cadbury

UK composer Joel Cadbury, has an innate talent for understanding and navigating differing aural landscapes.  His music, whether as an artist, collaborator or composer for film, TV and stage, has seen him carve himself a unique space as a versatile creator at the forefront of contemporary sound.

Starting his musical journey as the songwriter and frontman of South, the band released their debut album ‘From Here On In’ on James Lavelle’s influential Mo’ Wax label.  It was during this period that Joel first experienced the world of film scoring when the band composed the music to Jonathan Glazer’s cult classic Sexy Beast.  Through his relationship with Lavelle, Joel subsequently became a vital member of the hugely influential UNKLE, contributing as a guitarist, co-writer, and featured artist on their albums ‘Never, Never Land’, ‘End Titles’, and ‘Where Did the Night Fall?’.

Joel’s recent scripted credits include scores for the Various Artists / Apple TV+ series Still Up, as well as two seasons and several specials of the NBC Universal / BBC comedy-drama series Dodger, created by Rhys Thomas, for which he crafted a ‘Dickensian punk’ soundscape.

Now much sought after in the world of documentaries, he wrote the score for the acclaimed Netflix series The Man With 1,000 Kids and the HBO limited series The Way Down, and has two high profile non-scripted productions due for release in 2026.

Aside from his work in Film and TV, Joel is a frequent collaborator of lauded British choreographer Sir Wayne McGregor, CBE creating the scores for his celebrated dance and ballet performances including ‘Borderlands’ for the San Francisco Ballet, ‘Winged Bull in the Elephant Case’ BBC2, and more recently the beautiful electronic soundtrack to ‘UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey’ for the Royal Opera House inspired by Jim Henson’s iconic 1982 fantasy film.