Wednesday May 14, 2008
Charming Ferhad
Ferhad is back in the limelight and succeeds in mesmerising his fans with his vocal prowess.
By AZHARIAH KAMIN
azaria@thestar.com.my
IT HAS been five years since suave R&B singer Ferhad bowled us over with his soulful voice and songs.
This writer, once again, had a chance to watch him croon his way into the hearts his fans at Grand Seasons Hotel Secretaries Week luncheon recently. I have to admit that this talented singer was as flirty, sexy and vocally strong as ever. His live performance was excellent as always.
Ferhad is dedicating his latest album Satu to his late mother and his wife, Alyssa. Looking dashing, the father of a 17-month-old son, Idries Gilani, was in top form and belted out his popular songs such as Kasih Berubah and Higher Deeper taken from his previous albums.
As bonus, he also rendered Satu, from his latest album (of the same title) released in February.
In an interview after the show, the 36-year-old singer explained that the song, Satu, was dedicated to his late mother, who died of breast cancer in 2006, and his beloved wife, Alyssa, who has been his pillar of strength.
“The album was released in February and sales have been encouraging,” said Ferhad, adding that the first single, Kukoo, was released in November.
Satu features six Malay songs and four English tracks.
“It took me a long time to produce Satu for many reasons. Due to changes in the record company, I decided to co-produce the album myself with Beyond Event. The album is distributed by Maestro Records Sdn Bhd,” said Singapore-born Ferhad.
Ferhad’s first album Tubed in 2000 introduced the irresistible singer to the South-East Asian pop audience. With a combination of slick pop and R&B, he gradually attracted a mainstream following.
That debut also brought the singer his first major hit, Kasih Berubah, and one would remember the regional smash Higher Deeper, complete with a gospel-like choir that gained sizeable regional notice since it was rotated on Channel [V] and MTV Asia.
Ferhad followed up Tubed with a live album, Soul Alive. By then, the singer had established a reputation as an outstanding entertainer in the Kuala Lumpur pub circuit and also at dinner shows. Excellent performances at Anugerah Industri Muzik 2001 and Anugerah Planet Muzik 2002 brought him wider attention.
However, his next album Katakan Saja released in 2003 received lukewarm response.
Ferhad is now back with Satu, which sees the talented singer collaborating with new talents such as Nick Lee and Kieran Quek (who also wrote Jaclyn Victor’s Cepat Cepat).
And get this, all the four English songs on the album – Get Up Get Down, In Time, Wasn’t it Good and Gucci Girl – were written by Ferhad.
As for Malay song lovers, there are Tandus, Kenapa Mengapa, Terbaik, Kukoo, Satu and Serentak to feast on.
Ferhad said that he started working on the album in 2003, immediately after releasing Katakan Saja.
“Although we had more than enough songs to record an album, some were not right for me,” explained Ferhad.
On his first single Kukoo in which he worked with Quek, Ferhad said: “A lot of people were surprised that Pak Samad (National Literature Laureate Datuk A. Samad Said) agreed to contribute to Kukoo. He has never done that before. After Mode (from Ruffedge) and I wrote the lyrics, we agreed that the bridge needed something, not a rap but something else.
“Kukoo is about an alarm clock, as in ‘wake up from your idle/slumber and be motivated’. That’s what the song is about and that’s when we thought of Pak A. Samad Said.
“I approached Pak Samad through his son and I was surprised that he agreed to work with us. I did ask for his recommendation on which poems to use and he decided to read one of his poems Jujur Kata Rindu Ibu. To me, Pak Samad is one of the most humble persons I have met. He came for the recording and he did it in five takes.
“I’m really honoured and excited and hopefully the younger generation will get to know Pak Samad through this collaboration. It will be great.
“With the long break (in between albums) I have to start from zero. However, my fans have been supportive through the years.
“With only three albums I’m proud to say that during my live performances, 70% of of the songs are my own and fans would sing along with me. It is a great feeling.
“Personally, whenever I record a new album I want to give something new to challenge the market,” said Ferhad, who is going to embark on promotional tours and showcases throughout the country with Satu.
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