"Pioneering the digital age just got better and 577 Records officially invites you to witness it. Experimental UK-based trio Sveið just released a new album - and it's wildly futuristic. Latent Imprints presents the musical confluence of man and machine as they traverse the complex landscape that is AI evolution. You've got to experience it!

The recording comes to life where the worlds of avant-garde, improvisation, and modern technology collide. It explores the concept of "latent space", a cutting-edge phenomenon in AI music. Within a multidimensional space, the machine's infinite calculations generate combinations of sound, timbre, and rhythm - and then human talent takes it to the next level.

Sveið is an AI-powered group comprised of saxist James Mainwaring, drummer Emil Karlsen, and electronic artist, "laptop improviser", and live coder Federico Reuben. They are known for their predictably unpredictable sound born from their fascinating, entangled relationship with artificial intelligence.

All eleven tracks on Latent Imprints are named after mythological creatures from around the world - each spelled with a cyber twist. They reflect the mythological qualities that emerge in generative AI outputs when influenced by real-life musicians. In a time when AI is deeply woven into our daily life and often seen as a threat to creativity, this release fully illuminates the nuanced and ever-expanding potential for artists to adapt to, learn from, and challenge this technology.

"The album imagines AI as a contemporary, post-digital myth: a repository of glitched, shape-shifting creatures whose uncanny sounds both disrupt and extend human music-making," the group explains. "Entirely improvised and recorded in a single session, the album unfolds as a narrative that examines the shifting dynamics between humans and AI." It opens with a collaborative ecosystem where humans and AI symbiotically co-create. As the album progresses, the drummer and saxophonist are increasingly tested by - and temporarily replaced with - uncanny AI clones."-577 Records

About Sveið

Sveið is a new UK-based power trio, powered by AI, featuring saxophonist James Mainwaring, laptop improviser and live coder Federico Reuben, and Norwegian improvising drummer Emil Karlsen.

James Mainwaring is a saxophonist and composer immersed in jazz and improvised music. He is active as an individual artist and as a member of various groups, including Roller Trio, Tipping Point, and The Exu. He gained prominence as a member of Roller Trio, whose 2012 debut album was nominated for prestigious awards such as the Mercury Prize, MOBO Best Jazz Act, and Jazz FM Best Newcomer. Roller Trio has released multiple studio albums, two live albums, a film soundtrack, and has toured extensively. In addition to his work with Roller Trio, James has been involved in projects like Tipping Point, featuring acclaimed pianist Matthew Bourne, which won the Emerging Excellence Award in 2013. As a solo artist, his recent releases include Meditations 1A (2023) and Mycorrhiza (2021), the latter described by critics as a reflection of our chaotic times and an essential artistic statement (Downtown Music Gallery). James has collaborated with Nduduzo Makathini, Django Django, John Law, Dave Kane, Morten Schantz, Sean Foran, and Space Fight, among others. His guest performances have taken him to prominent venues, festivals, and radio and TV broadcasts worldwide.

Federico Reuben is a composer, sound artist and live-electronics performer. His work includes compositions for acoustic, electroacoustic, and mixed ensembles, laptop improvisations, computer-mediated performances, fixed media, hybrid works, installations, collaborations and computer programs. As a laptop improviser he has performed with improvisers such as Elliott Sharp, John Edwards, Steve Noble, Mark Sanders, London Improvisers Orchestra, Tony Marsh, Alekander Kolkowski, Ingrid Laubrock, Alexander Hawkins, Rachel Musson, and Dominic Lash. He is also co-founder of netlabel and artist collective squib-box with Adam de la Cour and Neil Luck. He is Associate Professor at the University of York where he carries out interdisciplinary and practice research in music and music technology. Recent research projects include an AHRC-funded network 'Datasounds, Datasets and Datasense: Unboxing the hidden layers between musical data, knowledge and creativity' and the establishment of the Music AI and Interactivity Lab at the School of Arts and Creative Technologies.

Emil Karlsen is a Norwegian improvising drummer currently based in the UK. Described as a "a real force on the UK improvised music scene", he's establishing himself working the span from free improvisation to free jazz. Occupied with the exploring timbral possibilities of the drum kit, he performs with Philipp Wachsmann, John Butcher, Phil Durrant and Maggie Nicols to mention some. Apart from being an active performer he's central in the revitalisation of the historic Bead Records.