The smooth-faced 31-year-old has already achieved national infamy with his confessions to a series of grisly murders - including a mother and her toddler - and details of his life as a gay man in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

Now Henyansyah, popularly known as Ryan, is chasing fame of a more orthodox kind - with a prison-penned autobiography published in February and a collection of pop songs due out in April.

Holding court in his jail cell recently, dressed in flowing white robes and a matching Muslim skullcap, Henyansyah trilled a sweet-voiced rendition of one of his songs for an appreciative crowd of court officers, local residents and reporters.

'Release me, forget me, release me from these shackles,' Henyansyah sang. 'Enough for now. You can get my album soon,' he said, as the applause and cheers for an encore turned to visible disappointment.

Henyansyah was arrested in July last year and prosecutors have demanded Henyansyah face the firing squad over the alleged murders, and a verdict is expected in April.

Remorse for his crimes was the motivating force behind the album, which he recorded in prison, Henyansyah told AFP.

'I write the songs for people I love. Forgive Me Mother is for my mother. Another song, Sun, is about lovers missing each other because they are separated until they die,' Henyansyah said.

Henyansyah has never denied the crimes that could earn him the death penalty. Indeed, his autobiography, The Untold Story of Ryan, includes maps to the graves in his parents' backyard, as well as photographs that chart his progress from village boy to Koran recital teacher, to simpering, shirtless male model.

The authorities seem bemused by Henyansyah's star status, and allow a steady stream of visitors to stop by his cell to have their photograph taken with him. Nor have there been any objections to him profiting from his book and album. -- AFP