Sheila comes out with new album after 13 years

Sheila Majid with her new album, Boneka. She took three years to source the right songs.
Sheila Majid with her new album, Boneka. She took three years to source the right songs. PHOTO: MSTAR

KUALA LUMPUR • The long wait for a new album by Malaysian jazz veteran Sheila Majid is finally over - after 13 years.

Called Boneka, it sees her collaborating with Indonesian songwriter and guitarist Tohpati, among other composers, on the 10 tracks.

The perfectionist in the 53-year- old had her taking three years just to source the right songs.

"I received a lot of new songs from composers, but only a handful met my expectations," she told Malaysian newspaper The Star.

At first, as she was sourcing songs for Boneka, she felt that only five songs were worthy of her time, until she met Tohpati.

The tie-up took another nine months to fully flesh out the potential in the songs.

Said the jazz queen, who drew an almost full house to her concert in Singapore last year: "I actually was not that interested in releasing another album because of the unstable state of the music industry.

"I named this album Boneka (puppet in English) because... I see myself as a puppet that belongs to my fans when I'm onstage."

There is more good news for her fans as she will be staging a concert in Kuala Lumpur's Stadium Negara on Aug 5.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 17, 2017, with the headline Sheila comes out with new album after 13 years. Subscribe