Fragmen (album)

''Fragmen'' (Fragment) is a 2014 album by Malaysian singer Siti Nurhaliza. It was her 16th studio album and her 15th Malay-language album, released physically on 30 June 2014 by Universal Music Group (Malaysia) in a collaboration with her own record company, Siti Nurhaliza Productions. Most of the songs in the album is inspired by her life and experiences. The production of the album saw a collaboration between Malaysian and Indonesian composers, lyricists and producers.

''Fragmen'' has spawned four singles for the Malaysian market, " Lebih Indah" ("More Meaningful"), " Jaga Dia Untukku" ("Take Care of Him for Me"), "Terbaik Bagimu" ("The Best for You") and " Seluruh Cinta" ("All of Love"). In 2014, "Lebih Indah" received two nominations from 2014 World Music Awards in the category of World's Best Song and World's Best Music Video. In the same year, on 17 October, "Lebih Indah" also enabled Siti to win Best Artist (Female) and Best Song (Malaysia) awards from 2014 Anugerah Planet Muzik. Four days later, on 21 October, ''Fragmen'' and its singles were nominated in six different categories for 2014 Anugerah Industri Muzik. On 6 December, "Lebih Indah" and ''Fragmen'' also enabled Siti to win the Best Vocal Performance in a Song (Female) and Best Album from the 2014 Anugerah Industri Muzik. Her winning for "Lebih Indah" also marked the 12th time Siti winning the Best Vocal Performance in Song (Female) category.

On 21 October 2014, ''Fragmen'' was officially launched in Indonesia. Additional track, a duet with Cakra Khan, " Seluruh Cinta" was released as Fragmen's first single for the Indonesian market on the same day.

As of 27 August 2014, the album has been certified Platinum after it has been shipped for more than 10 000 copies. Less than three months later, ''Fragmen'' is estimated to be sold around 50 000 copies.

Background and recording

''Fragmen'' is Siti's debut album through the collaboration of her own record company, Siti Nurhaliza Productions with Universal Music Group (Malaysia) since July 2011. The production of the album took place in October 2012 with the release of " Galau" ("Perplexed") on 11 January 2013. Though it was released digitally in January 2013, "Galau" was first performed during Dato' Siti Nurhaliza – Live in Kuantan 2012 concert in November 2012. However, when ''Fragmen'' was officially slated for release on 30 June 2014, "Galau" was dropped from the final track list. According to her management, the release of "Galau" was only intended as a promotional single to introduce the collaboration effort between Siti Nurhaliza Productions and Universal Music Group (Malaysia) to the public and not suitable for inclusion due to the differences of musical direction.

On 15 May, the first official single of the album, "Lebih Indah" was performed during the taping of her 90-minute special television program for Eid al-Fitr with TV2, ''Konsert Sanggar Lebaran Dato' Siti Nurhaliza''. The show was aired much later, on 8 August. Recorded in 2013, the song is said to reflect the state of her emotions when she has to take care of her husband who was involved in a motorcycle accident in New Zealand in December 2012.

In July, Universal Music Group (Malaysia)'s A&R Director, Mujahid Abd Wahab revealed that the overall cost production that Universal has spent for this album reached almost RM 200 000. According to Mujahid, "The collaboration between Universal Music Malaysia and Siti is not only viewed from the sole perspective of profit only, in contrast, it is more than that. Universal Music Malaysia is willing to spend a large amount of expenditure for the creation of Siti's newest album since she is the country's asset. As the best singer, it is fitting that the album also matches her status." The RM 200 000 is said to only cover the production cost of the album alone.

In the process of the creation of the album, the album saw a collaboration of musicians, composers and technicians from multiple countries. The mastering of the album was done by Sterling Sound Studio in New York City. Ade Govinda, music composer from Indonesia who contributed "Terbaik Bagimu" is also one of the producers for the album.

Out of nine songs that are included in the album, three of them ("Mula dan Akhir", "Sanubari" and "Membunuh Benci") are chosen from her collaboration with "''Bengkel Cipta Ekspres Badan Pelindung Hakcipta Karyawan Malaysia''" (Music Author's Copyright Protection (MACP) Xpress Creation Workshop) on 25 April 2013. During the workshop, 10 music composers and 10 lyricists that were chosen were given three days to create 10 songs, before they were presented to Siti for her to evaluate their suitability to be included in her album. This marked her second time collaborating with MACP to find new materials for her album since her last traditional album, '' Lentera Timur''.

Originally intended to be the tenth track for the album, " Seluruh Cinta", a duet with an Indonesia singer, Cakra Khan did not make the final cut of the album. The song which was recorded in three hours on 29 May 2014 at My Music, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia was later revealed by Siti's management to be of a different project, though the possibility of its inclusion was actually considered. The song was finally included for the Indonesian version of ''Fragmen'' when it was officially launched and released on 21 October 2014.

Artwork and title

Shot by Bustamam Mokhtar, the album cover portrays Siti in a black ensemble. Siti explained on her choice of the black ensemble as, "Apart from the result of our discussion with the involved party in the creation of the album cover, I chose black because it is my favourite colour and it is perfect with the concept of elegance that I wanted." The album also marked her first cover album with her wearing a hijab. She explained, "This is my first album that portrays me in a hijab. Even with hijab, I still want uniqueness and in the same time the image that is being shown is suitable with the element of pop that is present in the album. Therefore, I intentionally chose black for the dress because black looks elegant."

Chosen by Rozi Abdul Razak, according to Siti, the album title is said "to picture a fragment of ylife's tales, stories and experiences every day".

Release and promotion

Prior to its official launch on 21 July, the album was released both physically and digitally on two separate dates. The physical copies of the album was released on 30 June, while the digital version of the album was released on 14 July 2014. The album was officially launched at Le Méridien, Kuala Lumpur on 21 July. Apart from various performances of her songs for various occasions, she also did several meet and greet sessions to promote ''Fragmen'' to both Malaysian and Singaporean fans on 24 August ( Pavilion), 25 September ( Universiti Teknologi Malaysia), Malaysia and 17 October 2014 (Tampines Mall), Singapore.

On 21 October 2014, the Indonesian version of ''Fragmen'' was officially launched and released at Artotel, Central Jakarta with an additional track, a duet with Cakra Khan, " Seluruh Cinta". During her visit to promote her album, she appeared on several days in a row on multiple Indonesian entertainment-based programs like radio programs and television channels including "Persembahan Cinta 23" on (MNCTV), "dahSyat" and "Superstars" on RCTI, "Inbox" on SCTV, "Ada Ada Aja" on Global TV and "Sarah Sechan" on NET.

Live performances

" Lebih Indah", the first official single of the album was first released as a digital release on iTunes on 31 August 2013. Prior to its official release, the song was first performed during the recording of her special television program for 2013's Eid al-Fitr, ''Konsert Sanggar Lebaran Dato' Siti Nurhaliza'' on 15 May. Later, it was performed again during her 2013 3-day Siti Nurhaliza in Symphony residency show on 5 to 7 July at Petronas Philharmonic Hall. In August, again in conjunction with the Eid al-Fitr week, she performed an unplugged version of "Lebih Indah" in a special television program for Eid al-Fitr, "Stailista Unplugged" which was aired on 8 August, on TV9. On 5 December, she performed "Lebih Indah" during the 2013 Asian Television Awards at Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore. On 14 December, as one of the performing artists, she performed "Lebih Indah" during the 20th Anugerah Industri Muzik. A week later, on 20 and 21 December, she performed "Lebih Indah" two days in a row during a special fund raising charity concert, "Konsert Destini", organised by Yayasan Destini Anak Bangsa (YDAB) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). In 2014, on 4 January, as one of the performing artists during the launch of "Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014" (Visit Malaysia Year 2014), she performed the song followed by a duet with Hafiz Suip with the song Muara Hati. The song was also performed during her two-day Secretaries' Week show, "''Lebih Indah Bersama Datuk Siti Nurhaliza''" on 15 and 16 April.

" Jaga Dia Untukku", the follow up single of ''Fragmen'' was released on 4 May 2014. The song was first performed during her 2014 two-day fundraising concert, Dato' Siti Nurhaliza Live in Concert – Where the Heart is at Plenary Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Center on 8 and 9 February. For radio releases, Hot FM was the first radio station in Malaysia to broadcast the exclusive premiere for Malaysian listeners on 2 May. It was also performed live on 2014 Anugerah Planet Muzik.

"Terbaik Bagimu", ''Fragmens third single, was first performed live during Siti's 2014 "Dato' Siti Nurhaliza – Live in Singapore" concert on 12 April 2014. It was also performed several times during her visit to Indonesia to promote the Indonesian version of ''Fragmen'' including – "Persembahan Cinta 23" (MNCTV