“I’m sorry it took so long/ I didn’t mean to make yall wait/but good things take time to create” Streetlife, “Silent”, on GZA’s Legend of the Liquid Swords, 2002.
The story of Pol Sembrano—singer, songwriter, producer, musician, classically trained piano player, and guitarist—and his forthcoming album, a self-titled joint, could start with the October release of his EP, Anywhere, and its four glimmering cuts that hint at the artistry that birthed them.
It could also begin with those long ago days of yore, what people commonly refer to as lockdown, during the early phases of the corona virus, when he began formally piecing together the tunes that would appear on the forthcoming Long Player, which is set to drop either this fall or in the coming year.
Some might choose to believe that the album’s story began in earnest when the Sembrano hooked up with his engineer and actually got to laying down the tracks prior to the conclusion of the recording process around the end of 2023.
All of those events, however, are mere details. Important ones, certainly, but they don’t give you the full story. No, the debut album of Sembrano actually originated at an aunt’s house, when he was the tender age of four, and got his first crack at a piano.
“She bought a piano, hoping I’d take piano lessons, which I did,” Sembrano recalled about his aunt and his auspicious musical beginnings. “She noticed that I could play little melodies after hearing them. You know, playing by ear. So, the turntable was next to the piano, and I would put on a record, I think it was Burt Backarat. I just started playing with it, and she noticed that I played some of the songs perfectly, as far as the melodies are concerned. So, she thought that I had this gift.”
A prodigy? Possibly. Precocious? Certainly. This was, after all, the playing of a four-year-old who couldn’t read anything, including music, or who hadn’t even been in kindergarten. That such an individual, who would go onto explore his musical talent at nearly every phase of his life, from elementary school to college and beyond, would one day make an album seems but a mere circumstance of fate.
And what an album it’s going to be. As previously indicated, Sembrano finished laying it down going on two years ago. He’s actually a couple cuts away from knocking out another long player. But first, he’s trying to get everything right for Pol Sembrano, and for his propensity for defying expectations or traditional artistic limitations.
“I wrote it, produced it, sang on it, and played on it,” Sembrano specified about the project. “So, basically it’s me without anyone’s input really. And, I’m pretty proud of that, actually. The album has different themes and different moods. There are electronic bass songs. There’s a dance song. There’s a moody piece there. There are a couple of acoustic tracks there where I use an acoustic guitar. There’s some that are synth poppy. It’s basically different types of genres that I was influenced by that I added onto this collection of songs. You can’t just categorize me as a synth pop person or electronica type musician. I don’t like to be pigeon-holed. I like to be known as an eclectic artist.”
At present Sembrano is readying his sights on which market to go after first for the album’s release. He’s giving significant consideration to Australia and certain parts of Europe. He’s also heading off to the Philippines to finish up a pair of track’s that may appear on the follow-up to Pol Sembrano. The next move is to work on visuals for his debut, which will likely include a music video for “Anywhere”, which is the first song on the EP of the same name.
“I think I’ve succeeded with this record,” Sembrano concluded. “I truly think that my goal has been met. The next goal is to promote it and have everyone hopefully connect with it. That I can’t control. But, what I can control, I have accomplished.”