JEDDAH, 3 November 2004 — Success seldom smells as sweet as it now does for Saudi pop singer Muhammad Abdu. The chart-topping performer has taken on a new role — creating music to suit perfumes.

At least four of his popular songs are in use by the perfume industry to name and promote its products. “I began composing music and singing songs for perfumes three years ago,” Abdu said at the recent launch of “Tedallal,” the latest creation of perfumer Abdul Khaliq Saeed that bears the name from one of Abdu’s songs.

Although perfumes usually appeal to the sense of smell, “Tedallal” also can appeal to eyes and ears with a video clip that features Abdu’s music in the background.

“While songs are meant to be soft and melodious, the softness of melody can be reflected in perfumes,” Abdu said. “Both are soft, and so they go hand in hand so well.”

“If we can compose music here, why not manufacture perfumes here?” Abdu asked. So the popular singer welcomed Abdul Khaliq’s idea of transferring of perfume-making technology from Paris to this part of the world.

Which comes first — the notes or the nose?

Only Abdu knows. Asked whether he creates a song after experiencing a perfume, he said: “Both go together. I compose music after trying a perfume or compose a song that can help create a new perfume.”

Abdu’s sweet-smelling songs include “Lailat Khamis”, “Muthhila” and the latest “Tedallal”.

Abdu also has been in the news recently for a SR15,000 national dress that Saudi clothes designer Siraj Sind designed for him to wear during the coming Eid celebrations.

“We’ll be setting up a perfume manufacturing plant at the Jeddah Industrial City within a year in association with Abdu’s expertise as a singer and composer,” Abdul Khaliq said, adding that some of local raw materials will be used in perfume-making, including certain plants from Jizan.

The first phase of the perfume plant will cost about SR100 million. “We hope to expand this plant depending on demand, and we will aim for a maximum share of the Kingdom’s perfume market, which is estimated to be around SR5 billion,” said Abdul Khaliq. “My association with Abdu is several years old and we hope to continue — with his music and our perfumes,” Abdul Khaliq said.