Zubeen Garg at a show

Guwahati, March 28: Chartbuster Zubeen Garg is set to take his creativity to a larger audience with albums in four languages other than Assamese.

The popular singer-composer-lyricist, who is loved as much for his glamourous personality as for his mellifluous voice, has signed an agreement with music major Universal for albums in Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali and Nepali. He is the first Assamese singer to even attempt to set music and sing in four languages.

Zubeen said the compositions in all four albums would be “by and large fusion”. His first Hindi non-film album, Yuhi Kabhi, was a moderate success, but gave him a foothold in the fiercely competitive Mumbai music industry. He later sang for two Hindi films, Fiza and Kaante.

Apart from the four albums in regional languages, Universal has signed Zubeen for a unique album containing Hindi versions of folk songs in different Indian languages. He will set the tunes and sing all the numbers.

Disclosing his plans for the album, the singer said: “I will use the original folk tunes, but my treatment will be fusion. As for the Hindi lyrics, these will not be literal translations.”

Zubeen is at present busy compiling two albums of Hindi film remixes. His Bengali film album Shudhu Tumi is ready and will be released in May.

Universal’s third project with the prolific music-maker is an album of Assamese lokageet. Zubeen is credited with taking folk music of the Northeast to the mainstream through his Hindi albums. Music from the region will feature again in his proposed “world fusion music” album. The yet-to-be-named album will be ready for release later this year.

“I will soon be travelling across the Northeast to learn various folk tunes,” the singer said. The lyrics of the album will be both in English and the dialects and languages spoken in the region, including Mising, Karbi and Bodo.

Ethnomusicologists describe world music as traditional music from around the world, including everything from Balinese to Cajun music. World fusion music that blends contemporary global tunes with original folk harmonies has been riding the rhythm waves since the beginning of this century.