Singer Dayang Nurfaizah’s dream to perform a duet with famed Indonesian singer Marcell has finally materialised, writes HIZREEN KAMAL.
NEVER mind that Dayang Nurfaizah’s ardent wish to stage her first solo concert is yet to be realised. She still has reason to smile. This petite singer, with 10 albums under her belt, is happy that her dream to collaborate with her favourite Indonesian artiste, the singer/actor/drummer Marcell, has turned into a reality.
“I have always wanted to work with Marcell, from the time I first heard his singing years ago. But I feared he might not even agree. After all, he is a big name in Indonesia,” said the 29-year-old.
Apart from that, there is also the issue of the singers being under different labels, making it difficult for a collaboration to take off. But that was in the past. Marcell’s agreement to record a duet with Dayang materialised last year. Dayang was over the moon.
“Of course I was excited when Marcell gave a thumbs up to this collaboration. It’s a dream come true for me. He has a great talent and his voice is superb... and our vocals gel,” said Dayang. The duet entitled Sayang is composed by Omar K, with lyrics by Nur Iman. Omar K composed the song eight years ago and gave it to Dayang in 2008.
As soon as she heard the song, Dayang knew that it should be a duet with Marcell. “It’s a catchy number and I could only visualise Marcell singing it with me,” she added. And only if she could not get him that she would sing the song solo.
The recording took only two hours at a studio in Petaling Jaya last September. The song will be included in both the singers’ upcoming albums. Marcell, who is popular for his song Semusim, likes the song very much. “It is easy listening and I was excited to perform it with Dayang,” said this 33-year-old, who is enamoured with Dayang’s vocals.
He too had wanted to collaborate with Dayang. He first heard her on one of her Live in Planet Hollywood albums four years ago. “Dayang has a unique voice which has a lot of soul.
"She reminds me of African American singer Brandy,” he added. During the recording, Marcell had the opportunity to get to know Dayang better. “She is a dedicated singer. Besides being humble, she enjoys sharing ideas.
I find that refreshing coming from someone who has been in the industry for a decade,” said Marcell, admitting that he had fun doing this project.
Both singers will be sharing the stage at a special showcase on March 7 at Hard Rock Café Kuala Lumpur at 11pm. The 90-minute performance will see each singing four songs and Sayang. They will be backed by a group of musicians, led by Jenny Chin as music director.
On the progress of Dayang’s upcoming studio effort to be released in July, in addition to Sayang, she has already recorded two tracks — Ku Temu Cahaya (composed by Yasin) and Life With You (Omar K and Zain of Sad Angry Babies, with lyrics by Shal).
On other developments, Marcell has a lot on his plate. While currently busy promoting his single from his fourth album Takkan Terganti in Indonesia, he is also working at putting out a grunge album with his band Konspirasi, in which he is the drummer. He is also down for two feature films — an action comedy and a drama.
Source: NST Online.
