Lata Mangeshkar is back!

If fans of Lata Mangeshkar have been disappointed with her low profile, here's some news to give you cheer. The nightingale is back in the sound studio and is ready to release her first ghazal album in 17 years.

The last time she went into that spiritually uplifting terrority was with Jagjit Singh, with whom she collaborated for Sajda.

So, come May, and hordes of the singer's fans will have much to rejoice. A young protégé of the artist Mayuresh Pai has composed music for the album. "Mayuresh earlier composed an album of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee's poetry which I sang. I was very impressed by his ability to lend music to Atalji's toughest verses," says the nightingale.

The ghazal album has taken almost two years to complete. The singer's frail health forced a slow pace of recording.

The album will be released on T Series, a label to which she returns after a long, controversial break. To this Lataji adds, "There never was any fight. In fact, I sang for Adnan Sami in the film Lucky and that was on T Series. I've also done a bhajan album for T Series many years ago."


Interestingly, Javed Akhtar who dotes on the nightingale, was invited to write one ghazal for the album. He offered to do a bunch of the lyrics.

Says Javed, "There's no singer in this universe who can intonate words the way Lataji can. From the time she sang my first film lyrics in Silsila to this new ghazal album, it's always an honour to have her sing my words. Even if you don't know the meaning of a word you know by her expression what she means. That's what a lyricist craves for."