Movie song for Zainalabidin

The acclaimed artiste will sing his first international soundtrack in English alongside Mentor protege Nadeera, writes Dennis Chua

THE last time Datuk Zainalabidin Mohamad sang for a movie, it was in 1998. It was for the Bahasa Malaysia edition of Walt Disney’s He sang a Malay translation of Phil Collins’ the theme of the animated film. Zainalabidin’s long-held wish to sing for an internationally-released film has finally come true, in the form of It is one of 11 songs in the album created by Malaysian-based Iranian dance music producers Armia and Arsham Ali, better known as Vessbroz.

which contains singles by two other Malaysians — Zainalabidin’s protege from

Nadeera Zaini and singeractress Farahdhiya Mohd Amin — is the official motion picture soundtrack of an upcoming Malaysian-made adventure film.

also has songs by American pop singers Britney Nieves, Arastella and Kyle Davis, Black GS from Nigeria, Dylan Thomas from the Netherlands, and Mehrdad Razavi Mozart from Iran.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE

Zainalabidin says: “It’s great to finally sing in English. While I’m more comfortable singing in Malay,

(From left) Mozart, Thomas, Zainalabidin, Arsham, Nadeera, Armia and Black GS.

since I grew up with the language and can express myself better in it, I want to step out of my comfort zone and try something new and different.”

He describes as a dance-orientcombines ed song which modern sounds with traditional Malaysian percussion beats; its lyrics, penned by Vessbroz, talks about society’s lack of compassion.

“It’s a melodious song that contains an important message on Malaysian society in general; our ‘tidak apa’ (couldn’t care less) attitude has to stop, and we must be more compassionate and caring towards the less fortunate,” says Zainalabidin, adding that he recorded the song in two hours.

He describes his collaboration with Vessbroz as “interesting” because the Iranians had learnt a lot about Malaysian artistes and loved listening to his music in particular.

“Armia and Arsham, have always wanted to meet me. We got together in their studio last month, and they asked if I was okay recording an English song,”

says Zainalabidin.

“I immediately answered in the positive, and suggested that Nadeera record with them too since it would be great to expose her to an international audience.”

JAZZING IT UP

When asked about his up coming projects, Zainalabidin reveals he will be singing in three regional jazz festivals next year — the Singapore Jazz Festival, Jakarta Jazz Festival and Java Jazz Festival. All will take place between February and March.

“I’m not a jazz singer, but a world music and pop singer, so it’s a great honour to share the big stage with international jazz musicians and singers for the first time.

“I’ll be bringing along a team of nine musicians who have worked with me for more than a decade. The list has not been finalised yet, but it will most likey include Mac Chew, Jenny Chin, Andy Peterson and Steve Thornton.”

Meanwhile, Nadeera who recorded her song, within an hour, is delighted to have had an “easy time” with Vessbroz. “They just told me to take it easy and sing as I normally do. I was initially wor- ried that as a newcomer, I wouldn’t meet their standards but they said it was all right as dance music was heavy on studio special effects.”

The 24-year-old from Mersing, Johor, will join Vessbroz, Zainalabidin and Farahdhiya on a nationwide tour next month to promote they will also visit China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia and the United Kingdom next year.

“In the meantime, I’m also promoting my first single which was recorded shortly after says Nadeera, adding that song is composed by singer-songwriter Amirah Ali, with lyrics by Sulu Sarawak.

Armia says was Vessbroz’s debut international album, and blends electropop, world and house music. “We recorded it over four months, and we wanted it to have a truly international group of singers,” he says, adding that he personally chose the title to reflect the loss of humanity around the world today.

MIRRORING ADVENTURE

Armia says the songs in the album were apt for the adventure film because their titles such as

and reflect the plot. Film director Aaron Lim says that C144 is based on the true story of an American military aircraft which crashed atop Gunung Bubu in Manong, Kuala Kangsar, Perak in 1945.