Rafael Toral

Since the 1990s, Portuguese producer, composer and performer Rafael Toral has been digging a trench between identifiable musical expressions and unbounded free experimentation. His early material, such as 1995's iconic 'Wave Field', puzzled out the harmony between ambient music and rock, and in 2004 he took a sharp left turn, spending over 13 years developing his Space Program and designing an ensemble of alien instruments. This year, he dusted off his trusty guitar and put together 'Spectral Evolution', his most sublime, comprehensive work to date. Appropriating classic jazz chord shifts from George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, Toral bends and stretches them into soothing dronescapes alongside a chorus of "post-free-jazz" electronic chirps.