Since his teenage years growing up in Portugal, Rafael Toral has felt enticed by the potential of sound. Rising to prominence via his nineties guitar work, the experimental musician set the instrument aside and started honing, at the start of the century, Space Program, a thirteen-year investigation of the performance possibilities of an ever-expanding assembly of unique electronic instruments. In 2024, a new phase comes about with Spectral Evolution, Toral’s “most difficult and ambitious record”, in his own words. Informed by drone music and vintage jazz, the new ambient suite draws a deep line in the sand between Toral and his past works.

Co-curated with Semibreve at Le Guess Who? 2024.