Gema Bumantara (Echoes of the Archipelago) is a twenty-second studio album by Malaysian singer, Siti Nurhaliza. It was released by Universal Music Malaysia and her own companies, Siti Nurhaliza Productions and SN Legacy on 28 October 2025. It is her first traditional album in 17 years since Lentera Timur (2008) and was a collaboration between Malaysian and Indonesian composers, lyricists, and producers. The album's lead single, "Kumbang Bunga" featuring Indonesian singer Lesti, was released on 22 October, six days prior to the album's release.
After the release of her fourth traditional album Lentera Timur in December 2008, Siti Nurhaliza decided to take a break from making any traditional albums. However, in 2018, she had released the single "Anta Permana", which was later included in ManifestaSITI2020 (2020). Six years later, she decided to return to the studio and announced that she had began worked on what was to become Gema Bumantara.[1] Recording of the album took a year to complete. According to Siti, Gema Bumantara serves as a continuation of her first four traditional albums that released between 1997 and 2008.[1][2] She described the album as her love for the Malaysian traditional music, which have been "always hold a special place" in her heart.[3] It also served as a way for her to propel the genre to the new audience.[4]
For the album, Siti Nurhaliza has received more than 200 song submissions, including from Indonesian songwriters. Out of the 200 songs submitted to her, only 10 songs were selected after a stringent evaluation process to aligned with traditional concept she has been envisioned.[2] She commented on the song selection, "Honestly, all were great. It was tough to choose just 10 because actually 40 were really good — imagine narrowing that down to 10. If we wanted, we could easily produce another album because there were so many quality works".[2]
The album also received support from MyCreative Ventures, an agency under the Ministry of Communications, under the Domestic Market Capability Fund 2.0. Siti said the funding covered 5 songs, while the other 5 was funded by herself using her own money.[5] Apart from employing local Malaysian talents, Siti also sourced musicians and artists from Indonesia to contribute to the materials in Gema Bumantara.[6]
Artwork and title
The album's title, Gema Bumantara, as stated by Siti Nurhaliza, has a larger meaning and a symbolic to her hope "to make a traditional music continued to echoed all the time".[1][2]
Release and promotion
The album was released in a digital format on 28 October 2025, while the album's CD format expected to released in January 2026 to coincide with her 30th anniversary concert and her 47th birthday.[1][2]
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