Shafqat Amanat Ali dedicates his new album Muh Dikhai to fans

Popular Pakistani playback singer Shafqat Amanat Ali is back with his third solo album, Muh Dikhai, after a hiatus of five long years, and he says that it is dedicated to his fans who have long been waiting for one.

Popular Pakistani playback singer Shafqat Amanat Ali is back with his third solo album, Muh Dikhai, after a hiatus of five long years, and he says that it is dedicated to his fans who have long been waiting for one.

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"The songs in this album are very different from each other, and I have kept everyone’s taste in mind. Everybody will get at least something out of this album... that is why I have dedicated this album to my fans," he says.

What made him think of releasing an album with nine songs at a time when most musicians are focusing on singles? "Well, I think somebody had to take that step of not being worried about what will happen to the album. I say that because if people start releasing singles, the culture of buying a CD or downloading a full album will vanish, and I don’t want to promote that. But yes, I will come out with singles too," he says.

About his views on the recent trend of long duration songs being avoided, he says, "No matter how short the song is, there is a certain time that every listener needs," says Shafqat, explaining his point with the example of the popular sport, cricket.

"There is test match, then there is the one day match and then you have the 20-20 format. Maybe in days to come they will introduce 10-10 format too, but at the very same time it will never be a one ball match or one over match… So, there is a certain duration that a song needs," he explains. He further adds, "Music channels don’t want to run very long videos, so they want shorter songs. For me, if a song requires three stanzas, then it should have three stanzas. Though we should not exceed seven-eightminutes. If you ask me, four to five minutes for a song is just fine," says the Mitwa singer.