Peter Gregson Releases New Album PATINA

Acclaimed London-based producer, composer, and cellist Peter Gregson today releaseD his fifth studio album Patina on Deutsche Grammophon. Patina is the first of Gregson's albums specifically created to be listened to in Dolby Atmos and was mixed at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

"I didn't want to write an album where each track finishes with a full stop," says Gregson. "I needed there to be space in the music for the listener to bring the music into their world, to make their own decisions and have their own response... Nothing was recorded in big, lush rooms, everything is very intimate and I didn't want it to sound like a classical record. I wanted to treat my cello as a voice - singing these modern 'songs without words'."

He goes on: "All the ingredients have to tell the same story - so much of this composition is held in the created space - the actual elements are as simple as can be, melody, harmony, bass line, but using the room, finding spaces, using harmonisers and vocoders and plate reverbs and gated reverbs and old tape... these are all found more commonly in the sort of electronic music that is permeating pop at the moment - I suppose this record is an intersection where electronic music meets classical music."

The album is released with an accompanying video for Cluster, a beautifully atmospheric composition, symbolic of Gregson's desire to "play with the idea of a minimal melody to lead the ear, but with an orchestration, arrangement and production around it that are constantly evolving and growing long after the pressure releases." Shot in British Columbia in late winter by Arran Shearing, it accompanies the track with a visual meditation on the contrasting aesthetics of the natural world and the urban environment.

"I write these records chronologically, starting at track 1 and working through until the end," adds the composer. "But this is a melody I've had in my mind for a while. When I started to write this piece, it kept coming back into my mind, nagging to be involved."

About Peter Gregson:

Peter Gregson (b.1987) is a renowned composer, cellist and Deutsche Grammophon recording artist whose music is regularly sought out by the most exciting choreographers and dance companies in the world, recently including Theaterhaus Stuttgart/Gauthier Dance, Joffrey Ballet, PA Ballet, Dutch National Ballet and Ballet BC.

Among his film credits are Roger Michell's Blackbird (starring Kate Winslet and Susan Sarandon) and Alan Rickman's A Little Chaos. His soundtrack for the popular video game Boundless also received widespread critical acclaim.

His music has featured on some of today's most popular TV series - from Netflix's hit Bridgerton to HBO's The New Pope, directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Brands including Balenciaga, Burberry, Dior, Ralph Lauren, and Pat McGrath have featured Gregson's music in recent campaigns and runway shows.

As a cellist, he has performed all around the world, from the Royal Albert Hall in London to a jazz club in Beijing; from the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg to Capitol Studios in Hollywood, a performance which was filmed and released in January 2021.

He is a prolific artist, most recently releasing the stunning Somnia which was commissioned for World Sleep Day. Patina is his most expansive and expressive work to date, featuring an astonishing array of analogue electronic instruments, a string ensemble, piano and his unique solo cello, brought together to explore the theme of absence. Learn more at www.petergregson.co.uk.

Patina Tracklist
1. Gregson - Hidden [6:16]
2. Gregson - Patina [4:11]
3. Gregson - Sense [6:17]
4. Gregson - Cluster [5:05]
5. Gregson - Schema [3:44]
6. Gregson - Sequence (Seven) [5:20]
7. Gregson - Over [4:39]