Fashion Heaven Rants Exclusive: Delving Inside Sarimah's Mind

Mention Sarimah Ibrahim and the image of bubbly Irish-Malay lass would immediately conjure in the depths of your mind. 

Known for her various talents that spans from emceeing, TV and radio hosting, modelling and acting ... there is nothing the 35-year old celebrity cannot do. 

After more than 10 years of musical hiatus since the release of her debut self-titled studio album, Sarimah returns back into the music scene with a new single entitled ‘You on my mind’. 

The single, which was produced by the award-winning singer and British singer Simon J Bailey has been receiving airplays in local radio stations as well as downloads via iTunes. 

The Pop and British R&B-tinged song marked the singer’s serious return to the music industry after taking a long break to accomplish her studies while subsequently, living her life to the fullest.

While the industry may be flooded with new and emerging acts on daily basis, it did not deter Sarimah from continuing her musical pursuit as she believes the right time has come for her to make a musical comeback.

“My fans have been patiently waiting,” said the amicable singer on her highly anticipated return. “Now that I’ve got some breathing room at last, they finally get what they want - my musical comeback.”

If you listened carefully to ‘You on my mind’, one could immediately spot a tremendous difference in terms of the lyrics and the emotion, compared to her debut single ‘Now that you’re gone’ – the single that launched her singing career almost 13 years ago.

“When I wrote ‘Now that you’re gone’, I was 22 and now I am 35,” she said. “As I grew up, I had learned a lot. Furthermore, ‘You on my mind” was entirely written based on my life.”

Co-produced by Bailey, whom she met through vocal classes and a friend in London, ‘You on my mind’ was recorded at the Power Studios in London and took a year to complete. According to Sarimah, the story of the song revolves around dysfunctional relationships.

"It tells a story of addictions to love and to the wrong people,” said the singer, explaining the background of the song. “It is about the inability to give up on bad relationships that people goes through as well as the different personality façades, all displayed through dysfunctional madness.”

She further added, “It’s more of a desperation to keep someone that causes you to lose your own sense of self.”

 
To support and to promote the single, Sarimah also produced a video with a whimsical concept, befitting the theme of the song. 

Taking the concept of five different stages of mind in a messed up relationships, the video took 19 hours to shoot with three months graphic rendering. 80 per cent of the video was shot against green screen and the shoot was done in Kuala Lumpur as well as in London. 

To bring forth the emotion of the song as authentic as possible, the singer worked closely with renowned Malaysian fashion designer and couturier Melinda Looi who created five different looks to suit the five emotional stages.

“Melinda and I are friends and we have known each other for so many years,” she said on the partnership. “So, I asked her if she would like to be part of the project and she said yes.”

As attaining perfection is never an easy feat, Sarimah had to try the costumes within a single fitting session before narrowing it down to what worked with changes were made in between. This was done to ensure that the costumes were aligned with the treatment that she wrote. 

Furthermore, she was also involved in the styling and makeup as well with approximately 45 minutes to one hour was allocated for both makeup and costume changes. To survive the gruelling long hours, the singer relied on lots of water, food, music and fast food.

With her music career is back on full throttle, Sarimah admitted that she has to make some big decisions next year. 

Moreover, she also has to put her chocolate-making business on hold as she needs to put her focus on music, her job as a breakfast show host for Mix Breakfast show which she co-hosted with Rod and of course, her engagement to a member of Negeri Sembilan royal family, Tunku Nadzimuddin Tunku Mudzaffar.  

When asked on the possibility of dropping out a sophomore studio album, Sarimah disclosed that the idea for an album is yet to run within the pipeline as the current digital market is catered more towards singles.

“[But] there will be more singles to release,” she said. “Coming up next is a second single called ‘Sleeping with the enemy’. It will be loaded with drama and intertwined. I’m targeting March or April next year for its release.”    

‘You on my mind’ by Sarimah featuring Simon J Bailey is available now as digital download from iTunes store.

*Photos courtesy of Sarimah