Bhubaneswar, Oct. 14: Evocative poetry and soulful music have been fused effortlessly to create Blue Mood, the album that marks the first-ever musical rendition of Devdas Chhotray's poems.

Chhotray, who wears many hats - academician, bureaucrat and lyricist - calls the eight poems in this album intensely personal, a reflection of his intimate feelings.

"I relate the colour blue to a certain level of depression and the low phases of my life, and that is the reason for naming the album Blue Mood. A lot of my personal sentiments have gone into the works," said Chhotray, who has also written screenplays for a number of Odia films.

The eight poems that have been featured in the album are Sakaala, Thikanaa, Tume, Saabalika, Kala Kagaja, Nida Sahita Sarta, Semiti Jhia and Manakharapra Phula. Young and popular singer Biebhukishore have lent voice to the numbers.

"Putting prose poetry to music is new in the Odia industry. As Chhotray's lyrics are already very popular, with reputed singer Akshaya Mohanty turning them into songs, I thought to do something different by trying his poems," said Biebhukishore.

Biebhukishore had recently been in news for singing the Odia version of Shahrukh Khan's Jabra Fan song.

The album was recently launched at a city hotel where a live performance of the songs were applauded. The renditions were preceded by a voice-over by Chhotray.

"We had been working on this album for at least 10 years, and I am extremely happy that it could be released finally," said Biebhukishore.

Speaking about the culture of poetry being set to music, Chhotray said: "Singing poetry with musical instruments is a common trend in the West. Poets such as Bob Dylan and Kabir Suman in Bengal are stalwarts, who had attempted and succeeded in singing poetry. This is way different than mere recitation of poems."

At present, Chhotray is working on the Odia adaptation of 12 popular songs of Kabir Suman, who was born and brought up in Cuttack.

The album is an initiative by eminent producer Akshay Parija and has been released under the Amara Muzik banner.

Parija, a fan of Chhotray, said: "His lyrics have touched the chords of my heart since my adolescent days. The attempt will definitely give something new to Odia music lovers."