Rafael Toral, one of the most important figures in experimental music made in Portugal, returns this Friday to gnration to present his latest album, “Spectral Evolution”. With great prominence in the international and national press, this new work is one of the mandatory works of 2024, released by Jim O’Rourke’s Moikai, who revived the label, after twenty years, on purpose to release this new album by Rafael Toral .
Recognized worldwide as one of the most innovative musicians in the exploration of guitar, homemade synthesizers and electronics, Rafael Toral has a prestigious career, with more than twenty works published on four continents. We started listening to it alongside Pop Dell’ Arte, still very young. But, it was 30 years ago, with the release of the seminal “Sound Mind Sound Body” (1994), that the musician and producer established himself as one of the greats of avant-garde music made in Portugal. This was followed by “Wave Field” (1995), “Chasing Sonic Boom” (1996) and “Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance” (2001), three more essential works of guitar exploration, which guaranteed Toral much prominence beyond- borders and recognition of names like Phill Niblock, Sonic Youth and Jim O’Rourke.
In the second phase of his solo career, the musician embraced the peculiarities of electronics, synthesizers and sound machines. For fifteen years, he orbited the shuttle of the “Space Program” and developed an approach to electronic music rooted in “post-free jazz”, continuing to cement a prominent place in the history of exploratory music. To accompany him on these intergalactic trips, Toral formed, in 2016, the Space Quartet, with Hugo Antunes, Nuno Morão and Nuno Torres. Two years later he picked up the guitar again to explore the sound possibilities of the instrument that accompanied him in the first years of his career.
Released in February this year, “Spectral Evolution” marks the third phase of Rafael Toral’s career, which combines guitar melodies with synthesizers, which he considers to be “the best work ever”. Before leaving for a series of concerts across Europe, the Portuguese musician presents his new album in Braga and Lisbon. This Friday, at 9:30 pm, Rafael Toral’s concert is at gnration.
