Chrisye and
Erwin Gutawa, a conductor who had coordinated Chrisye's first solo concert in 1994, began working on what was to become
AkustiChrisye in 1995. Realising that Western artists such as
Frank Sinatra had found success in rearranging their older songs, the two decided to do the same with Chrisye's older work. They chose the songs "Kala Sang Surya Tenggelam" ("When the Sun Set"), "Anak Jalanan" ("Street Child"), and "Smaradhana" ("Passion") from the 1978 album
Sabda Alam, as well as "Gita Cinta – Puspa Indah" ("Love Song – Beautiful Flower"), a remix of two songs from the 1980 album
Puspa Indah. The album also saw several new songs, written by other artists. The album focused on using
acoustic music, which Chrisye described as simple but still requiring serious work. At the time the genre had seen a resurgence in Indonesia, with the state broadcaster
TVRI carrying several shows which featured acoustic music. The audio was recorded at
Studios 301 in Sydney, Australia, with a full orchestra providing backing in a period of three hours. Gutawa had chosen to record in Australia as better equipment was available there, and, although expensive, Aciu Widjaja of
Musica Studios agreed immediately. ==Release and reception==