Unplugged (Siti Nurhaliza 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.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Unplugged booklet liner notes.

Istana Budaya workforce

Album

Anugerah Planet Muzik

On 25 August 2015, two of Unplugged bonus tracks were nominated for the 2015 Anugerah Planet Muzik, an award ceremony that involves musicians and artists from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. "Menatap dalam Mimpi" is nominated for the category of Best Artiste (Female) while "Engkau" is nominated for the Best Collaboration (Song).

Anugerah Industri Muzik

On 13 October 2016, Unplugged received seven nominations for six categories from 22nd Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM 22). Two of its bonus tracks received four nominations - "Menatap dalam Mimpi" is nominated for Best Vocal Performance in a Song (Female), Best Musical Arrangement in a Song, and Best Pop Song while "Mikraj Cinta" is nominated for Best Nasyid Song. The live version of "Jaga Dia Untukku" that was performed at the concert also received the nomination for the Best Musical Arrangement in a Song.

Unplugged on its own received multiple nominations, including for the Best Engineered Album and Best Album. During the award ceremony, she received five awards, including fan-voted Choice Malaysian Singer. AIM 22 also marked her 13th time winning Best Vocal Performance and fifth time winning the Best Album category.