Unplugged (also known as Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Unplugged) is a live album by Malaysian recording artist Siti Nurhaliza. It was released in multiple formats, both physical and digital in Malaysia on 30 June 2015. The main live tracks were all taken from her 2015 unplugged concert at Istana Budaya on 7 April 2015. The CD, digital download and LP record versions of the album however come with three new bonus songs, "Menatap dalam Mimpi" ("Staring in a Dream"), "Engkau" ("You") and "Mikraj Cinta" ("Ascension of Love"). All were recorded specifically to accompany the three audio releases.
On June 21, 2015, "Mikraj Cinta", one of its bonus tracks was released as an official debut single for the album. On 25 August 2015, another two of Unplugged bonus tracks were nominated for the 2015 Anugerah Planet Muzik. "Menatap dalam Mimpi" is nominated for the category of Best Artiste (Female) while "Engkau" is nominated for the Best Collaboration (Song). On December 18, 2016, Unplugged received four awards from seven nominations from 22nd Anugerah Industri Muzik, including for Best Vocal Performance in a Song (Female), Best Nasyid Song for "Mikraj Cinta", Best Musical Arrangement in a Song for "Menatap dalam Mimpi", and Best Album.
Background and recording
In the creation process of this record, the main performances are all taken from her one night only 2015 unplugged concert on 7 April 2015. The planning and the execution of the whole live concert took Siti and her team less than three weeks. Although the whole process was done at the eleventh hour, the concert was a success. Held at Istana Budaya, all the tickets sold out days before the concert date and the concert was lauded by critics especially for Siti's vocal performances. The concert also marked her 20th year in the Malaysian music industry ever since she won 1995 Bintang HMI at the age of 16.
The inclusion of bonus tracks to accompany the audio releases of the album was done after the concert. One of the tracks, "Mikraj Cinta" (Ascension of Love), a track written by Hafiz Hamidun and Ahmad Fedtri Yahya was actually first performed live during her performance for "Sirah Rasullulah" (Life of the Messenger of God) on 3, 4 and 7 January 2015 in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad's mawlid. Inspired from the event of Isra and Mi'raj, a violinist from West Asia was hired to provide an original Arabic sound. The remaining two bonus tracks, "Engkau" (You) and "Menatap dalam Mimpi" (Observing in Dream or figuratively Staring in a Dream) were produced by Aubrey Suwito with the lyrics of the two were provided by Ade Govinda and Rozi Sang Dewi respectively. According to Aubrey, he was inspired to produce the melody for "Menatap dalam Mimpi" upon seeing a poem that was uploaded by Rozi on her Twitter account. He completed the whole song in only 20 minutes. Recorded at Aubrey's recording studio, according to Siti, "It possesses the musical elements that require me to diversify the usage of my vocal range. It would not be wrong for me to say, that it is like a musical song that we often heard in films by Walt Disney."
For the iTunes version of the album, two more additional bonus tracks are added, which are essentially the acoustic version of "Menatap dalam Mimpi" and "Engkau". According to Rozi, who is also Siti's personal manager, the two additional tracks are a "bonus to the bonus tracks".
Synopsis
The concert began with Siti performing "Membunuh Benci" while accompanied by Aubrey Suwito on piano, who was the musical director for the concert. This was followed by the first medley of the unplugged concert, composed of the first two upbeat songs of the show, "Mahligai Asmara" and "Satu Cinta Dua Jiwa" where she started to dance while singing. She resumed her performance by performing the second medley of the concert composed of "Jawapan di Persimpangan", "Purnama Merindu" and "Diari Hatimu" and followed by another medley composed of "Aku Cinta Padamu" and "Biarlah Rahsia". For the next performance she invited Awi Rafael, the composer of "Mula dan Akhir," to accompany her on guitar while she sang the tune that he composed for her most recent album, Fragmen. Siti returned to upbeat songs in a medley of "Tanpa Kalian" and "Intrig Cinta" before she went to perform another medley of her ballads, "Usah Diragui", "Wajah Kekasih" and "Kau Kekasihku". Before the second half begins, the audience is entertained by the musicians and the background singers who performed "Seindah Biasa".
In the second half of the concert, Siti invited Faizal Tahir to accompany her on guitar while she sang "Aku" and "Warna Dunia", the former of which was composed by Faizal for Fragmen. Later she also invited Dato' Adnan Abu Hassan to accompany her on piano to the songs that were written and composed by him, "Jerat Percintaan" and "Gelora Asmara". She resumed her performance with another three medleys. The first one is a medley of cover songs, "Epilog Cinta dari Bromley" by Sohaimi Mior Hassan and "Suratan Atau Kebetulan" by Kenny, Remy and Martin, followed by a medley of her songs again which was a medley of "Engkau Bagaikan Permata" and "Cahaya Seribu Liku". The final medley of the concert was a medley of three songs from Fragmen that were written by Indonesian songwriters and composers — "Sanubari", "Terbaik Bagimu" and "Kau Sangat Bererti". She finished the show by performing all the songs from Fragmen that were released as singles including "Jaga Dia Untukku", "Lebih Indah" and "Seluruh Cinta".
Throughout the concert she intermittently shared some details from her 20 years' worth of life and singing experiences, from her first recording session to her experiences in recording her latest album, Fragmen. Apart from the three guests artists, she also invited two lucky fans to accompany her on the stage – first before the performance of "Aku Cinta Padamu" and another one before the performance of "Tanpa Kalian".
Release and promotion
The album was made available simultaneously for download and stream on various platforms including iTunes, Spotify and Deezer on 30 June 2015. It was officially launched at The Duchess Place, Kuala Lumpur on 2 July 2015. The album also marked her first album to ever be released in the LP record (vinyl) format. She also made an appearance on several television shows to promote the album, including on Wanita Hari Ini (Women Today) on TV3 and Muzik-Muzik, also on TV3.
To help promote the album, three meet and greet sessions were held at three separate locations – Plaza Angsana, Johor Bahru, Johor (29 August), Sunway Carnival Mall, Seberang Jaya, Penang (6 September) and Pavilion, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur (13 September).
Commercial performance In less than a day after the album was released to iTunes, it went straight to atop of the charts for three different countries – Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. For the physical release of the album, 5000 copies were shipped in its first week alone.
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from Unplugged booklet liner notes.
Main concert
Adzwa – dance instructor Alud @ Khairul Azmir Abdul Hamid – concert manager, concert administrator Aniza – dancer Aubrey Suwito – musical director, post production, arrangement, piano Awi Rafael – guest artist Chandelier Trust Lighting Collection – sponsor Dato' Adnan Abu Hassan – guest artist Dato' Mohamed Juhari Shaarani – adviser Dato' Siti Nurhaliza – executive producer, vocals Derrick Siow – drums Fadzliana – dancer Faizal Tahir – guest artist Fara Wahida – dancer Firdaus Dalip – monitor engineer 'Fly' Halizor Hussein – electric bass, upright bass Joel Voo – acoustic guitar Juanita – background vocals Lentera Creative Home – sponsor Lim Jae Sern – violin Marina – dancer Miela @ Norfazilah Abu Seman – management/production Mohd Azli Othman – compere Mohd Rafi Shafie – acoustic guitar Moke Printing – sponsor Nur Iman @ Aiman – production manager Nurul Shuhada – dancer Nurul Shukor – make-up artist Ozlan Othman – lighting director Paradigm Studio – photography Rizman Ruzaini – wardrobe designer, sponsor Rozi Abdul Razak – idea, concept, script, coordinator Shaun Paiva – assistant sound engineer/recording, Siti Norsaida Tarudin – management/production Steve Thornton – percussion Sunil Kumar – sound engineer/recording, mixing Syaiful Rasyidi @ Ad – technical director Widy – background vocals Zaramiz Sdn. Bhd. – sponsor
Istana Budaya workforce Production
Mohd Azli Othman – production Mohd Ferdaus Hassan – production Rozita Ismail – production Suhaimi Abdul Rahim – production
Management
Azhar Mohamad – management Harttzery Nazry Hatta – management Kamarulanuar Ismail – management M Ramlee Hj Ismail – management Mohd Ridhuan Wan Mohd Zin – management Mohd Yusoff Bokhri – management
Audiovisual unit
Hakimi Mohd Zain – audiovisual unit Jafri Hasan – audiovisual unit Mohamad Yusri Zain – audiovisual unit Mohd Zunohan Md Noor – audiovisual unit Mohd Zul'amri Amran – audiovisual unit Muhamad Fadzli Ramli – audiovisual unit
Stage management
Anuar Mohamad Kassim – stage management Azrulnizam Aziz – stage management Barat Anak Echan – stage management Mohd Anuar Zakaria – stage management Mohd Sujak Othman – stage management Mohd Sufri Mohamad – stage management Sha'ari Hashin – stage management Yuzaidi Md Yusuf – stage management
Art and design
Abdul Razak Abdol Rahim – art and design Mohd Azali Idris – art and design Mohd Khairul Adnan Khalid – art and design Rudy Efendy Jammakhir – art and design Sazali Ismail – art and design
Technical
Ahmad Ruzaini Bin Mohd Sharif Ahmad Tarmizi Muhammad Amir Bin Abu Amir Husni Bin Hamidun Azhari Bin Abdul Rashid Azli Bin Baharuddin Azri Bin Seman Azzazial Bin Shuib Fareez Bin Sadikon Ilmi Bin Cek Hamid Ismail B. Mohammad Khairul Aizat Bin Alias Khairul Anuar Bin Jaafar Maharini Binti Bidin Mat Nuri Bin Mat Ali Mohammad Fairolnizam Bin Ali Othman Mohammad Faizal Bin Hj. Hamid Mohammed Herman Bin Majid Mohd Alizar Bin Sulaiman Mohd Fyrulnizam Bin Mohd Yusof Mohd Halimi Bin Hassan Mohd Nizam Abu Bakar Mohd Nizam B. Bakar Mohd Rizal Bin Johari @ Razak Mohd Yusoff Bin Kassim Muhammad Zaki Bin Abu Samah Nik Mohd Fadzir Bin Nik Ismail Osmar Bin Fariez Salleh Bin Muhammad Suzahani Bin Shuib Tines Kumar A/L Murugasu Wan Ayubee B. Wan Razoly Wan Mohd Azam Bin Wan Ishak Wan Zahari Bin Wan Ismail Zulkeflee Bin Husin
Front of House
Abdul Malik Bin Osman Ahmad Jamri Bin Jamaluddin Aniza Bt. Baharom Azman Bin Abu Bakar Azrita Aida Bt. Abdul Aziz Boniface Anak Babai Fauziah Hanim Bt. Mohd. Zain Halimattun Bt. Mohd Nor Hamdan Bin Awang Hanipah Bt. Hairi Hasnul Bin Hassan Jailani Bin Abdul Razak Marina Mary Charles Md Firdaus Bin Alias Mohamad Nizam Bin Elias Mohd Aizat Bin Rusly Norhashimah Bt. Leman Nor Haslinda Bt. Abdul Manaf Nor Zulzaliana Bt. Yahya Nurul Wahida Bt. Zulkifli Roslinah Bt. Haroun Roszilawati Bt. Abd Rahim Rudy De Luna Jr Saniah Bt. Aziz Siti Norhabsah Bt. Syeikh Ahmad Siti Sarah Bt. Abdul Kalam Syaira Dalina Bt. Abdullah Zamri Bin Mohamad
Album Performers and musicians
Ade Govinda – composer (track 17), lyricist (track 17) Aji – guitar (track 16, 17) Aksana Yupusova – violin (track 16, 17) Alla Yanisheva – violin (track 16, 17) Aubrey Suwito – composer (track 16), production (track 16, 17), arrangement (track 16, 17), music programming (track 16, 17) Brian Larson – violin (track 16, 17) Dato' Siti Nurhaliza – vocals (track 1–18) Emre Moğulkoç – strings (track 18) Fedtri Yahya – lyricist (track 18) Florian Antier – cello (track 16, 17) Greg Henderson – mixing (track 18) Hafiz Hamidun – composer (track 18), lyricist (track 18), arrangement (track 18), background vocals (track 18) Jae Sern Lim – violin (track 16, 17) Jay Franco (Sterling Sound) – mastering (track 1–18) Kelly – bass (track 18) Nasran Nawi – cello (track 16, 17)