SABAHAN songbird Mia Palencia is quite excited this week. She has every reason to be, thanks to the launch of her second album at the Bentley Music Auditorium this evening.

Does she care that it’s Friday the 13th? Not a teeny weeny bit. In fact, she’s looking forward to it because it’s the culmination of months of hard work and working with people she’s learnt a lot from.

The new product is entitled Songs From The Jiwang Kingdom, comprising 12 new original songs, accompanied on guitar by Sabahan compadre Jun, who Mia describes as “someone you just have to know and hear to believe”.

So, ironically, this fellow, a guitarist now under the wing of Kota Kinabalu maestro Roger Wang, is, in a word, “unbelievable”.

“He’s very hardworking,” Mia said, referring to a recent incident in Singapore when other band members had spent their time shopping and Jun had remained in the hotel room to practise.

“The others were nervous just before the show and got quite a ticking off from Jun for not practising enough,” Mia said.

Her album’s mixologist and mastermind Jemi Sitanayah is yet another phenomenon. “Incredibly, we didn’t meet at all while this album was being produced, the last being five years ago at the International College of Music.” An Indonesian who qualified at Berklee, Sitanayah (former keyboardist with Deja Voodoo) mixed and mastered every track on Songs From The Jiwang Kingdom on his own in Montreal, Canada.

Perfectionist that he is, he had Palencia aghast when he pulled back the finished product at the eleventh hour, insisting that he needed to master it all over again.

Well, that’s the high end age of technology for you. Not only does it allow you to work without meeting your artiste, it also gives you access to technology that allows you to remaster 12 tracks in just 24 hours.

The end result? “Well, someone who heard the new versions told me that I sounded like I was right there in the car.” The word jiwang, according to a website, belongs in a fantasy kingdom where everything is just what you want it to be.

“It’s a rather hard word to describe. I have heard it described as ‘sentimental’, ‘mushy’, ‘in love’, ‘affectionate’ and various other English counterparts that somehow don’t feel right, Palencia had said.

“It’s like a song you hum all the time; you know it so well, but you can’t quite put your finger on it,” she said.

Apparently, that’s how she felt when she was writing many of her songs. The dozen numbers include some songs she has written over the past few years, and some new ones that reflect the currency of her experiences.

Recording the album, however, came just as naturally as writing the songs.

“We wanted it to sound as natural as possible, so we had it recorded virtually live,” Palencia said.

“Jun and I got into two separate recording rooms at the studio and recorded everything simultaneously,” she added, “leaving any embellishments for later. “We even left the squeaks and noises in to keep it as organic as possible.

“I found that the more empty the songs, the more challenging it was to make them sound good. At the end of it all, it was like taking off all my clothes, looking in the mirror and having a good laugh!” Soon after the launch, Mia-Germain Palencia will leave Malaysia to further her education in performance at the Tasmania Music Conservatory, hoping to complete her Masters in the next few years, and also perform at gigs while she’s there.

Tonight’s show begins at 9pm. The RM50 cover charge includes a Songs From the Jiwang Kingdom CD.

For passes, call Natasha at 016-916-8598 or 03-7728-7909 or log on to www.brabonsentertainment.com.

MUSIC: Mia’s flight of fantasy