With the releasing of their Pagsibol EP last summer, SB19, the record-breaking P-pop quintet behind “Alab” and “Hanggang Sa Huli” finally revealed the next chapter in their narrative.
Pagsibol is a collection of heartfelt and inspiring anthems that commemorate family, their devoted following, and frontliners combating the continuing pandemic in the Philippines.
In Filipino, it simply means “plant growth” or the procedure by which seeds develop into plants. In a statement, the band also mentions that the phrase also refers to the band’s evolution from its beginnings to where it is now.
Pagsibol comes a year after their debut album Get In The Zone, and as a continuation of SB19’s story, the EP is infused with stories of how they went from being unknowns to internet stars to P-pop pioneers.
In recent years, SB19 has grown significantly. With designer Chynna Mamawal, they’ve established a clothing line, been on Billboard’s Social 50 chart for the last year, and collaborated with other OPM bands such as Ben & Ben.
With their bold vocals and a more hands-on approach to music creation in Pagsibol, the band’s sound is more well-rounded. “What?” is a continuation of Pablo’s songwriting work, which began with the powerful pop-rock hit.
The EP’s three new tracks, including the powerful, EDM-infused “Mana”, which feels like a follow-up to “What?”, show off the singer’s compositional skills to the fullest. “SLMT”, a lively track devoted to fans, and “Bazinga”, an English track with a Filipino lyric that appears to be a rebuke to those who doubted the group.
All of their efforts culminated in Pagsibol, a product that was created entirely by them, from ideation to recording and production. We hear the band broadening out and exploring in genres they’ve never tried before on Pagsibol.
It’s this type of self-assured experimenting that has catapulted them to superstardom so swiftly and consistently. SB19’s unique experiences of fame, as well as their fans’ admiration for their humility and work ethic, are reflected in the songs’ themes.
SB19 and Spotify teamed up for a new campaign named SB19 A’TIN To! to aid in the promotion of Pagsibol‘s release, with SB19 fans (also known as A’TIN) expecting to find some special content on Spotify’s ‘Tatak Pinoy’ playlist to encourage Filipino patriotism and explain the group’s story.
SB19 is expanding their worldwide presence with the support of a large platform like Spotify. Spotify is promoting Pagsibol with a media campaign that features jeepneys designed by six visual artists in collaboration with SB19 and inspired by the EP’s six tunes.
The artist are Ang Gerilya for “What?”, Soleil Ignacio for “MAPA”, Nelz Yumu for “Mana”, Jappy Agoncillo for “Bazinga”, Anina Rubio for “Ikako” and June for “SLMT”.
The band’s collaboration with Spotify could only help them advance in the worldwide music scene. SB19’s music may now be heard by listeners all across the world, thanks to the platform’s promise of “borderless access“.
With the release of their first EP, the group appears to be ready to take on the world and introduce themselves to a worldwide reach.
SB19’s music represents hard effort and discipline. Their music inspires us to keep pursuing our dreams. It also teaches us that we must give our all to achieve our goals, even if we already know they are unattainable.
Their song lyrics even suggest that no matter how many times we fail to reach our goals, we must keep trying until we succeed, and we must not allow impediments to disrupt our capacity to follow our aspirations.
Listen to Pagsibol below and keep tabs on SB19 on Twitter and Instagram
Word by Camila Jane B. Herrera
