AkustiChrisye

Chrisye and Erwin Gutawa, a conductor who had coordinated Chrisye's first solo concert in 1994, began working on what was to become AkustiChrisye in 1995.[1] Realising that Western artists such as Frank Sinatra had found success in rearranging their older songs, the two decided to do the same with Chrisye's older work.[2] They chose the songs "Kala Sang Surya Tenggelam" ("When the Sun Set"), "Anak Jalanan" ("Street Child"), and "Smaradhana" ("Passion") from the 1978 album Sabda Alam, as well as "Gita Cinta – Puspa Indah" ("Love Song – Beautiful Flower"), a remix of two songs from the 1980 album Puspa Indah. The album also saw several new songs, written by other artists.[3]

The album focused on using acoustic music, which Chrisye described as simple but still requiring serious work.[4] At the time the genre had seen a resurgence in Indonesia, with the state broadcaster TVRI carrying several shows which featured acoustic music.[5] The audio was recorded at Studio 301 in Sydney, Australia, with a full orchestra providing backing in a period of three hours. Gutawa had chosen to record in Australia as better equipment was available there,[4] and, although expensive, Aciu Widjaja of Musica Studios agreed immediately.[2]

The album was released as a cassette by Musica Studios in 1996[4] to popular success. "Damai Bersamamu" was the album's only single,[6] while both it and "Kala Sang Surya Tenggelam" received music videos.[7][8] Chrisye would later emphasise acoustic music on his 1997 album Kala Cinta Menggoda (When Love Tempts),[4] and continue his collaboration with Gutawa until 2002's Dekade (Decade).[9]

AkustiChrisye has been reissued twice, once as a CD in 2004[10] and once as part of the Chrisye Masterpiece Trilogy Limited Edition in 2007.[11]

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