Description
Greek bassist and composer Petros Klampanis invites listeners on a journey into the subtle, overlooked, and deeply human stories that inspire his newest project, Latent Info. Set for release on February 7, 2025, through Enja Records in collaboration with PKmusik, Latent Info reflects both a deeply personal journey and an exploration of voices often silenced in today’s chaotic world. The album balances Greek musical tradition with contemporary soundscapes, shaped by Klampanis’s experiences as a New York-based Greek artist immersed in diverse cultural intersections.
Latent Info is Klampanis’s response to the call for empathy in a world often dominated by noise. “As a Greek artist who has been based in New York for many years, I have been shaped by the cultural bridges between the Arab and Jewish worlds—spaces I find myself in, both literally and metaphorically,” says Klampanis. His work as musical director for Pakistani Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn-based singer and producer Arooj Aftab, as well as with Israeli saxophonist Oded Tzur, has profoundly influenced his approach to weaving together cultural narratives through music.
A deeply significant track, “Over the Calypso Deep”, combines Klampanis’s childhood memories of fishing with his late uncle near the deepest point of the Mediterranean with a haunting tragedy that occurred there in 2023: a shipwreck in Greek waters that claimed the lives of over 300 refugees, many of them women and children. For Klampanis, the tragedy struck a powerful chord, intensifying his resolve to use music to highlight human struggles that are often left in the shadows. Through tracks like this, Latent Info emerges as a tribute to those affected by the global migrant crisis, blending minimalism with expressive force to echo the sorrow, resilience, and complexity inherent in such stories.
Each piece on Latent Info reflects Klampanis’s ethos of “less is more”, creating spacious, flowing soundscapes that invite listeners to fill the silence with their imagination. His collaborators – pianist Kristjan Randalu and drummer Ziv Ravitz – amplify the album’s emotional depth with their subtle, nuanced contributions. “Sometimes a single note or silence can convey more than words,” Randalu notes, a sentiment echoed by Ravitz’s restrained, breathing rhythms. Together, they create an immersive experience that encourages listeners to hear between the lines.
Through its restrained compositions and sophisticated use of acoustic and electronic textures, Latent Info amplifies stories that often go unheard, from the lived experiences of refugees and immigrants to the often-ignored voice of nature. Klampanis reflects, “This album is my response to the noise of today’s world, a sonic journey into the beauty, power, and truth of the unseen and the unspeakable.”
Rooted in the openness of Greek culture yet shaped by the pulsating energy of New York, Latent Info is a profound statement of Klampanis’s unique voice in contemporary music. It is an album that reflects today’s complex cultural landscapes, creating music that is as artistically nuanced as it is socially relevant.