The 46-year-old describes the album not merely as a continuation of her artistic journey, but also as part of her responsibility to ensure traditional rhythms live on and resonate across the world.
Speaking at the album launch in Bukit Jalil recently, Siti shared that she had invited composers to collaborate on the new project, “whether they are legends, newcomers, or young talents”.
“If I don’t give them the space, how can we nurture future successors?” she said. “With their abilities, knowledge and experience, we should appreciate the talents of this new generation. I myself learnt a lot from them.”
According to the vocal powerhouse, over 200 song submissions had been received from composers of all ages, but only 10 were selected after a stringent evaluation process in line with the concept she envisioned.
“It was difficult to choose the final songs because actually 40 were really good – imagine narrowing that down to 10! If we wanted, we could easily produce another album because there were so many quality works,” she said.
Siti noted, however, that the entries received since the open call early last year included some that had been created using artificial intelligence programs.
“Gema Bumantara” features 10 tracks, including those by established songwriters such as Firdaus Rahmat, Igie Hugh, Usop Kopratasa, Hafiz Hamidun, Aubrey Suwito, Omar K, and Siti herself.
Song titles include “Kumbang Bunga”, “Hati Yang Rindu”, “Rencong”, “Kaca dan Permata”, “Hujung Bumi” and “Cenderamaya”.
The mother of two also shared that the album received support from the communications ministry through MyCreative Ventures under the Domestic Market Capability Fund 2.0.
“The funding covered five songs, while I invested my own money for the remaining five. The assistance from MyCreative Ventures was truly a relief, and I’m very grateful,” she expressed.
Asked about the possibility of a traditional concert, the “Cindai” hitmaker said such a showcase is in the pipeline, though the idea is still in the early planning stages.
“For now, I can only say it will be a full traditional concert, similar to ‘Lentera Timur’, which I performed at Istana Budaya – except this time, it will be on a larger scale.
“We’ll announce the date later. For now, I want to focus on my ‘Siti Nurhaliza Legacy 30’ concert on Jan 10,” she said.
Bernama had earlier reported that tickets for “Legacy 30″, which celebrates Siti’s three-decade journey in the music industry, recorded extraordinary sales, with 96% of the more than 60,000 tickets sold out in under a month.
“I honestly didn’t expect such an amazing response,” Siti had commented, promising to entertain her loyal fans with more than 25 songs in a three-hour event.
The physical edition of “Gema Bumantara” is expected to be released in January in conjunction with “Legacy 30” .
Listen to ‘Gema Bumantara’ on Spotify.