Fragmen

Background and recording

Fragmen is Siti's first debut album through the collaboration of her own record company, Siti Nurhaliza Productions with Universal Music Group (Malaysia) since July 2011. The production of the album took place in October 2012 with the release of "Galau" ("Perplexed") on 11 January 2013. Though it was released digitally in January 2013, "Galau" was first performed during Dato' Siti Nurhaliza – Live in Kuantan 2012 concert in November 2012. However, when Fragmen was officially slated for release on 30 June 2014, "Galau" was dropped from the final track list. According to her management, the release of "Galau" was only intended as a promotional single to introduce the collaboration effort between Siti Nurhaliza Productions and Universal Music Group (Malaysia) to the public and not suitable for inclusion due to the differences of musical direction.

On 15 May, the first official single of the album, "Lebih Indah" was performed during the taping of her 90-minute special television program for Eid al-Fitr with TV2, Konsert Sanggar Lebaran Dato' Siti Nurhaliza. The show was aired much later, on 8 August. Recorded in 2013, the song is said to reflect the state of her emotions when she has to take care of her husband who was involved in a motorcycle accident in New Zealand in December 2012.

In July, Universal Music Group (Malaysia)'s A&R Director, Mujahid Abd Wahab revealed that the overall cost production that Universal has spent for this album reached almost RM 200 000. According to Mujahid, "The collaboration between Universal Music Malaysia and Siti is not only viewed from the sole perspective of profit only, in contrast, it is more than that. Universal Music Malaysia is willing to spend a large amount of expenditure for the creation of Siti's newest album since she is the country's asset. As the best singer, it is fitting that the album also matches her status." The RM 200 000 is said to only cover the production cost of the album alone.

In the process of the creation of the album, the album saw a collaboration of musicians, composers and technicians from multiple countries. The mastering of the album was done by Sterling Sound Studio in New York City. Ade Govinda, music composer from Indonesia who contributed "Terbaik Bagimu" is also one of the producers for the album.

Out of nine songs that are included in the album, three of them ("Mula dan Akhir", "Sanubari" and "Membunuh Benci") are chosen from her collaboration with "Bengkel Cipta Ekspres Badan Pelindung Hakcipta Karyawan Malaysia" (Music Author's Copyright Protection (MACP) Xpress Creation Workshop) on 25 April 2013. During the workshop, 10 music composers and 10 lyricists that were chosen were given three days to create 10 songs, before they were presented to Siti in order for her to evaluate their suitability to be included in her album. This marked her second time collaborating with MACP to find new materials for her album since her last traditional album, Lentera Timur.

Originally intended to be the tenth track for the album, "Seluruh Cinta", a duet with an Indonesia singer, Cakra Khan did not make the final cut of the album. The song which was recorded in three hours on 29 May 2014 at My Music, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia was later revealed by Siti's management to be of a different project, though the possibility of its inclusion was actually considered. The song was finally included for the Indonesian version of Fragmen when it was officially launched and released on 21 October 2014.

Artwork and title

Shot by Bustamam Mokhtar, the album cover portrays Siti in a black ensemble. Siti explained on her choice of the black ensemble as, "Apart from the result of our discussion with the involved party in the creation of the album cover, I chose black because it is my favourite colour and it is perfect with the concept of elegance that I wanted." The album also marked her first cover album with her wearing a hijab. She explained, "This is my first album that portrays me in a hijab. Even with hijab, I still want uniqueness and in the same time the image that is being shown is suitable with the element of pop that is present in the album. Therefore, I intentionally chose black for the dress because black looks elegant."

Chosen by Rozi Abdul Razak, according to Siti, the album title is said "to picture a fragment of [my] life's tales, stories and experiences every day".

Release and promotion

Prior to its official launch on 21 July, the album was released both physically and digitally on two separate dates. The physical copies of the album was released on 30 June, while the digital version of the album was released on 14 July 2013. The album was officially launched at Le Méridien, Kuala Lumpur on 21 July. Apart from various performances of her songs for various occasions, she also did several meet and greet sessions to promote Fragmen to both Malaysian and Singaporean fans on 24 August (Pavilion), 25 September (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia), Malaysia and 17 October 2014 (Tampines Mall), Singapore.

On 21 October 2014, the Indonesian version of Fragmen was officially launched and released at Artotel, Central Jakarta with an additional track, a duet with Cakra Khan, "Seluruh Cinta". During her visit to promote her album, she appeared on several days in a row on multiple Indonesian entertainment-based programs like radio programs and television channels including "Persembahan Cinta 23" on (MNCTV), "dahSyat" and "Superstars" on RCTI, "Inbox" on SCTV, "Ada Ada Aja" on Global TV and "Sarah Sechan" on NET..

Live performances

"Lebih Indah", the first official single of the album was first released as a digital release on iTunes on 31 August 2013. Prior to its official release, the song was first performed during the recording of her special television program for 2013's Eid al-Fitr, Konsert Sanggar Lebaran Dato' Siti Nurhaliza on 15 May. Later, it was performed again during her 2013 3-day Siti Nurhaliza in Symphony residency show on 5 to 7 July at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (Petronas Philharmonic Hall). In August, again in conjunction with the Eid al-Fitr week, she performed an unplugged version of "Lebih Indah" in a special television program for Eid al-Fitr, "Stailista Unplugged" which was aired on 8 August, on TV9. On 5 December, she performed "Lebih Indah" during the 2013 Asian Television Awards at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore. On 14 December, as one the performing artists, she performed "Lebih Indah" during the 20th Anugerah Industri Muzik. A week later, on 20 and 21 December, she performed "Lebih Indah" two days in a row during a special fund raising charity concert, "Konsert Destini", organised by Yayasan Destini Anak Bangsa (YDAB) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). In 2014, on 4 January, as one of the performing artists during the launch of "Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014" (Visit Malaysia Year 2014), she performed the song followed by a duet with Hafiz Suip with the song Muara Hati. The song was also performed during her two-day Secretaries' Week show, "Lebih Indah Bersama Datuk Siti Nurhaliza" on 15 and 16 April.

"Jaga Dia Untukku", the follow up single of Fragmen was released on 4 May 2014. The song was first performed during her 2014 two-day fundraising concert, Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Live in Concert – Where the Heart is at Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Center on 8 and 9 February. For radio releases, Hot FM was the first radio station in Malaysia to broadcast the exclusive premiere for Malaysian listeners on 2 May. It was also performed live on 2014 Anugerah Planet Muzik.

"Terbaik Bagimu", Fragmen's third single, was first performed live during Siti's 2014 "Dato' Siti Nurhaliza – Live in Singapore" concert on 12 April 2014. It was also performed several times during her visit to Indonesia to promote the Indonesian version of Fragmen including – "Persembahan Cinta 23" (MNCTV) on 20 October 2014, "dahSyat" and "Superstars" on RCTI (21 October), "Inbox" on SCTV (22 October) and "Sarah Sechan" on NET..

"Seluruh Cinta" was first performed live by Siti and Cakra during MNCTV's special program in conjunction with its 23rd anniversary, "Persembahan Cinta 23" on 20 October 2014. The same song was performed on several days in a row on multiple Indonesian entertainment-based programs and television channels, including "dahSyat" on RCTI (21 October) and "Ada Ada Aja" on Global TV (22 October). "Seluruh Cinta" was also performed live during the taping of a one-hour talk show by Sarah Sechan on NET. which was broadcast on 1 November 2014.

Singles

Commercial performance

Within the first week of its release, Fragmen has been sold more than 5000 copies, thus making it eligible to receive Gold certification. As of 27 August, the album has been certified Platinum after it has been shipped for more than 10 000 copies. Less than three months later, on 20 November, it is revealed that the album has been sold to an estimated of 50 000 copies.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Fragmen booklet liner notes.

Awards

In 2014, Siti received five nominations from World Music Awards, three for herself (World's Best Female Artist, World's Best Live Act, World's Best Entertainer of the Year) and two for "Lebih Indah" (World's Best Song and World's Best Video). On 17 October 2014, Siti received two awards from 2014 Anugerah Planet Muzik in the category of Best Female Artiste and Best Song (Malaysia) for "Lebih Indah" in an award ceremony that involves musicians and artists from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.