Traveling through the genres of the ever-emerging South Asian international music scene, it was interesting to come across an artist that was based in the UK yet did music that sounded like it would be more appreciated in the mainstream markets in South Asia. Ajay, defined as a great guitarist full of vocal ability as displayed by an on stage duet with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. The initial reviews given by other media personalities to Ajay's work stated that the artist was funky and a great live act. As I don't have any experience of the latter, we'll have to focus on just how much "funk" Ajay brings to the table with his debut release "Kasam Se."

Warning: this is not a bhangra album, nor is it anyway close to Asian Underground. What is it then? … I honestly don't know, but he does dive in and out of Hindi pop a lot, but not your regular pop, he adds a lot more flavour and life that gives it an edge over the Hindi pop we regularly see on TV.The opening track "Bhangra Chaat Masala" confuses you a little bit. The man talking, I'm assuming Ajay himself, introduces the track and every little build up in the track… it's great, because he bring in every instrument and aspect of the track with a lil intro, a producer will love the way he does this, but the average person will be wondering what the heck he's listening to. Great as it may be, I wonder why he decides he has to speak Mumbai-street Hindi, a little too much Munna Bhai for Ajay I'm guessing. Nothing much else to say over here… it's fun and great for a one time spin, but it's an intro track and it serves its purpose fairly well. Funky for sure.The title track follows "Kasam Se" is built on a simple guitar melody, followed by a pop chorus that you can easily sing along to. Pure Hindi on this one… is quite catchy, and will stick with you for a bit, unless you realize that it's not the type of song you want to be caught singing to yourself in public. It seems Hindi has taken a backseat, and the hot language right now is Punjabi.

The next track "Yeh Duniya" has an interesting sound to it, until you realize it's another Hindi pop tune to the average person. The track is basically about life being a struggle, however so far Ajay hasn't shown much vocal range, it's starting to all sound slightly monotone. It's definitely a little interesting, but nothing that I would listen to again. Just hoping we see a change up in style soon.

"Baahon Mein" does for brown people what Barry White did for black people (or anyone for that matter)… it simply sets the mood and tone with a girl. It actually does a pretty good job of it as well… personally kind of liking it. Again, pure Hindi on this one… I'm going to stop saying its Hindi, if a track is in anything but Hindi I'll be sure to let you know. However, one thing I did realize about this track is that I was able to sing the chorus of "Grind with Me" by Pretty Ricky over this beat. Yes, I had a lot of time with this song, but after a few repeats most people might move on. However, the same issue lies within this too… no vocal range at all. So far the production on every track has been great, but we've got to hear Ajay change up his singing style.

The next track "Cheti Kar" is the first song I heard by Ajay and I really didn't rate him much after it, so I skipped over it on the album as well. It sounds fitting on a Bollywood soundtrack, as if Saif Ali Khan is out on the town with some girl. Apparently, the story behind this song is interesting, something about singing the song before going out and recording it on his voice mail and than discovering it the next morning. Not much else to say here.

"Funky Dholi" tries to bring some urban desi flavors to this album, but Ajay needs to stick to singing, the rap game really ain't going his way. It is decent, but that's the last thing we need is another "okay" rapper. It's good to see that Ajay has a wide diversity of influences, but it falls in the category of Josh/Sukhbir type of stuff. But nice shoutouts in his last verse to the likes of Malkit, PMC, Hit Squad among others.

The following tune "SD2L" has a real nice flavor to it in the beginning, hoping for a little funk and 80's flavors so far. Great little guitar part here, but again Ajay starts spitting over here too. I'm guessing SD2L stands for "Sitting down too long" as he says in chorus in a James Brown reminiscent fashion, however again… good beats but we need some real energetic vocals… it's starting to bring me down. Even though he does try it in the end… it doesn't work out well enough to big it up.

Another dholi tune? "Dholi's Delight" does exactly just that… brings through the dhols and lets them shine, and is that him on his electric guitar? Not bad at all. More of a two minute interlude, but not bad… let's hear more stuff like this.

"Aaja Sajana" was the second track I heard by Ajay on the radio and this one actually caught my ear. This is when I started liking his stuff more. The track is fairly update and has a catchy chorus and does its job fairly well, one of this album's stand out tracks. Nothing over the top special though.

The next track I actually am feeling, I don't care if I lose credibility as a reviewer for it. The softness and meaning behind "Sapnay" shows that Ajay has something on his mind that the he would like to share with everyone, and it's not your regular woman troubles or I love you stuff. The chorus is catchy and it's brilliantly produced track and you even appreciate Ajay's vocals on this one. Definitely my personal favorite on this album so far. But again, it is Hindi pop for all you people wanting something different.

"Umeedain" starts off with some percussion that gets you hoping it'll be an ambient track and that's exactly what it is. Following in the meaningful footsteps of "Sapnay" this track puts you in the right place again. All about the stresses in life but finding hope through it all. The theme here is pretty much keep smiling, great message, good beat, a little monotone as I complained earlier.

I really liked "Anth" as a closing tune for the album; I like simple instrumentals with nice melodies that create a chill out atmosphere. Trust me, if you didn't like much else here, you'll like this if you're into the ambient instrumental stuff.

Ajay's debut album definitely was a hint at the direction and sound that we can expect from him in the future. The album is definitely alright, but not what most youth will be picking up across seas. His main audience and I think he knows it, will be based in India and Pakistan. He doesn't bring the rock edge that people are liking there, but his unique pop flavors will definitely be embraced. Ajay could well feature on a Bollywood soundtrack and help the state that Bollywood soundtracks are in right now, he'd definitely be revolutionary. Most of his songs sound like they would perfectly fit into a Yash Raj films movie or any other big name production company.

The only problem with this album is that it may not be what most South Asian across seas will be feeling much. But it is unique for a UK artist to be pushing this type of stuff, catering to an audience besides Punjabis and breakbeat heads. Overall it is a great debut album for what it is, whether it's your style or not. Ajay could use some other vocalists to collaborate with for duets who could provide Niraj Chag's [main producer of the album] great beats with more vocal range, but besides that there really aren't many other complaints… overall I give this album a 7 out of 10… if you're into Hindi pop then you'll be loving this one. If not, stay away!