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Popular singer Humaira Arshad is gearing up for the launch of her audio-video album comprising both Urdu and Punjabi songs, she told Dawn in a recent interview.

Arshad’s expertise in singing is wide-ranged -- from pop to folk and from classical to ghazal.

“I am working like a busy bee on my fourth album which will be unveiled through private channels in the next couple of months.”

The songs have been penned by various poets and the music composed by Saji and Kamran. The album would include videos of all the eight songs on it.

To a question if she planned to record a song for Coke Studio, Arshad said that she would be singing for the platform for the first time, which would be a cover of one of Runa Laila’s most popular songs.

“I can’t however reveal the song that I am going to sing but I can share that it will be a classical number,” she added.

“We don’t have opportunities except Coke Studio. There are no music releasing companies and under such circumstances I think Coke Studio is doing a great job of reviving old songs by improvising and innovating on the music.”

To another question if Coke Studio was doing a great job of reinventing classic songs, Humaira Arshad criticised the current music scene, saying that there was no other option these days except Coke Studio.

Read on: What is Coke Studio’s identity now, and does it matter?

“We don’t have opportunities except this very platform. There are no music releasing companies as well and under such circumstances I think Coke Studio is doing a great job of reviving old songs by improvising and innovating on the music,” the singer advocated.

When asked about the recently launched Alhamra Unplugged recording studio, Arshad said she was unaware of it, adding that Alhamra had not contacted her in this regard.

Originally published in Dawn, April 17th, 2017