music
Rafael Toral, one of the most important names in experimental music made in Portugal, is back with what he considers to be his best work. And no wonder. After all, Jim O’Rourke has revived the historic Moikai label to release Spectral Evolution after twenty years.
After endless journeys in outer space, Spectral Evolution is a return to solid land. A forest of sounds that Toral captures as if he were an acoustic biologist sent from the future to give us the privilege of listening. This piece also marks the beginning of the third phase in the producer’s career, as he returns to the guitar that graced him so much in the early years of his career.
We started hearing him at a very young age alongside Pop Dell’ Arte, but it was in the early 1990s that he established himself as one of the giants of national music. The seminal Sound Mind Sound Body (1994), Wave Field (1995) and Chasing Sonic Booms (1996) are essential works of guitar exploration, which earned Toral great prominence abroad and recognition from names like Phill Niblock, Sonic Youth and Jim O’Rourke. Between 2004 and 2017, he went into orbit with Space Programme, an adventure in cosmic creation that took him away from the instrument. He also joined his Space Quartet alongside Hugo Antunes, Nuno Morão and Nuno Torres.
In the spring and summer, Rafael Toral returns to the stage with guitar in hand to present Spectral Evolution, an already highly acclaimed work that will surely go down in the history books as one of the ultimate ambient works of the 2020s.
support portuguese republic – culture / directorate-general for the arts. rtcp – network of portuguese theatres and cinemas
