Pol Batlle is one of the artists of the new Catalan scene who are little by little becoming known to the general public. Born 32 years ago in Gavà, Barcelona, Batlle has already published a studio album, ‘Salt Mortal’, released in 2022; He has collaborated with stars such as Silvia Pérez Cruz, Rita Payés and Clara Peya and has sung in the largest showcase of new talents internationally, COLORS, alongside Payés, an adaptation of ‘Vida’ by Lluis Llach.
The concept of “life” is so present in Pol Batlle’s career that Vida is precisely the name of the record label – effectively associated with the festival – that, in 2020, released his first single, ‘Colmena’. And the life of another person, that of his newborn daughter, has inspired Pol Batlle’s new song, his first in two years, ‘No ho has entès’.
‘No ho has entès’ describes Pol Batlle’s relationship with the experience of life after the birth of his daughter, Juna, and also necessarily his relationship with death, since, faced with fatherhood, Batlle experiences what he calls a « urgency of presence”, the urgent need to be there as long as possible to raise your little girl. But ‘No ho has entès’ doesn’t tell his story with any urgency, at all.
With the support of the distributor OneRPM, Pol Batlle gives himself to his folk and intimate side in ‘No ho has entès’ accompanied, in addition, by the Lisbon singer Maro, who represented Portugal in Eurovision in 2022 with ‘Saudade, saudade’, coming in ninth place.
Batlle has been able to experiment with the author song or even the copla in the past, but now it is the Brazilian tradition that colors the music of ‘No ho has entès’. The sound of the strummed guitars, as well as the details of piano and percussion, lead to that place, while Batlle and Maro transmit the lyrics of ‘No ho has entès’ immersed in complete peace. It is as if, indeed, they have “understood” something about life, as if they have accepted that both life and death are equally beautiful.
In this way, ‘No ho has entès’ speaks of “birds that take flight” but also of a “duel” that is “growing” and that is “imminent.” Batlle and Maro, accomplices, sing that “both birth and death” are worthy of celebration. That’s why ‘No ho has entès’ never sounds somber or sad, but rather happy to live in the present.
