"Espaces lointains" is a rather special album in Garvalf's discography, so much so that we wondered whether it should be released under this name or as a separate project.

But even if the musical style is different from the usual Dungeon Synth, it's not that far from chiptune music. Is it synthwave, synthpop? Whatever, it retains its singularity.

After using a single Yamaha synth and XG technology on the previous album (Rassemblement), this new album is more radical, featuring Roland's iconic MT-32 sound module from 1987, which was the only instrument used to produce all the music. This expander, which is a real little programmable synthesiser, is less powerful than the legendary D-50, but on the other hand has real multitimbrality, allowing several instruments to be played at the same time, which the D-50 couldn't do.

To our knowledge, there has never been a complete album (or only a very few) written for the MT-32, other than music for video games, compilations or a few tracks in a more heterogeneous set. And while the MT-32 was occasionally used on a few albums in the late 80s, the musicians preferred to use more professional equipment.

So it was a choice and a fascination with this sound module, whose sounds and technology I knew from the D-110, that led to the making of this album. The basic sounds of the MT-32 were used on all the tracks, with the exception of tracks 10, 15 and 16, which benefited from a custom editing of the sounds.

More than a concept album, the general theme evokes modernity and technology, not linked to an oppressive science that sometimes poses as a new inquisition, but rather a search for truth through the transcendence of infinite space, far and near at the same time, all mixed with a carefree 80s or 90s feel and the nostalgia associated with that era.

released April 21, 2025

All music and arrangements: Garvalf