The eight-track album, with lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar, was launched last week. The first number, Breathless appears to be a steady stream of song that goes on without a break, stanzas, verse or even a pause for breath.

"It was an idea Javedji voiced in 1996 when we were finalising the details, saying it had been at the back of his mind for years. Being something new, I said why not? We decided then to call the album Breathless," says Mahadevan.

While it is the beginning of a new phase in his career, this ad-man -- 12-years in the business -- has been the voice for ads like Garden, Pepsi and Cadbury's. He has evensung for films like Sapnay, Oh! Darling Yeh Hai India, Muhafiz and Bombay. "I've never gone looking -- I was called by those who thought my voice would do justice to their compositions. It was an honour to sing for Illayaraja and Mani Ratnam," he says.

The roots of raga, however, go back a long way. "I've been trained in Carnatic classical music and playing the veena since I was five. I gave my first solo performance at 11. I always knew that music was going to be a factor in whatever I chose," he says. Mahadevan also believes that his talents were nurtured and managed to flourish because he met the right people at the right time. "I was handed everything on a silver platter. From the beginning, I was fortunate to have received training from Tara Devi, which took care of my North Indian semi-classical learning. I did bhav-geet with Srinivas Khade, the legendary Marathi composer. I also did a lot of Indo-jazz. I have performed with Louis Banks, and am a part of his show now," he says.

But hewants more. Music is his muse and he wants to hit the high notes. "My scope is broader. I'm part of a Swedish band called Minta, whereby I travel to perform twice a year. Then there's also the Chinese Jazz Festival, which is important to me." And till then, he is holding his breath while his album climbs the charts.