Asian R&B has been bobbing on the surface of the mainstream for over twelve months now, and we are finally gifted with an album from one of our superstars. After a hundred and one melas and PA's, eight weeks in the mainstream top ten, and leaving Jay Sean in his tracks, the man like Raghav Mathur has taken the role of 'Storyteller' for his debut album which looks to place a big desi pin in the music map.

Raghav asserts that all the songs on the album are about his life and this adds a great personal effect to the record, and enforces his role as 'Storyteller'. Indeed, every song has a theme and tale to tell, which is a breath of fresh air from the folk boliyan we get in Panjabi music, which are always along the same lines. It must be said that nearly everything on the album is about Mr Mathur and his many girls (he's a player y'know!) but you must consider that the majority of his fan base want to marry him, and they just can't get enough (sad pun) of him talking about love.

Indeed, as well as Raghav being quite a poet, there is some great music on the album and its much more than the guy the girls love smiling at them through the music. There's great variety with tunes to dance to and others to go to sleep to, so Sly & Robbie and Mushtaq have done a great job expanding the fan base to universal quarters.

When you open the CD, the first word that'll come into your head is 'professional'. Glossy paper and a full 9-page inlay booklet is a total contrast to the page of shouts, plug for another album and one picture of the artist that we get on most desi CDs. Inside the booklet is a total transcription of the lyrics (including all the Hindi ones) for all the karaoke heads like Irfan.

We get underway with 'Let's Work It Out', the latest single that unfortunately just missed the top ten a fortnight ago. Opening with the Hindi sample from 'Leke Pehla Pehla Pyaar' that is sung by Asha Bhosle from the movie C.I.D, it's a steady paced R&B track, which demonstrates all of Raghav's vocal talents and features Jahaziel on the MC'ing tip.

A piano roll opens track two, 'No I', and you're thinking its Justin Timberlake's 'Cry Me A River', but then the beat comes in and it turns into a great track. Clever emotive lyrics from Raghav and a memorable bridge and chorus make you sway to this song about jealousy and adultery.

Track three has more of an Asian influence with a qawali type undertone; 'No No' is another strong track at the start of the album. It tails with Raghav singing a Hindi verse to great effect before the final chorus.

Number four is 'So Confused', the debut track that sent Raghav flying up the charts and into the limelight. The album edition still has the great 2Play production but Jucxi Ranks isn't there, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We all know this is a tune, so much so that it was nominated for the Best Collaboration at the Mobos this year.

Things get even better with track five, 'Bad, Bad, Bad'. A song about hunting for kurrian, there's an Asian melody and beat, and Raghav is on top form. Lyrically sublime, its got great imagery and is one of the highlights of an already great album. There's another Bollywood sample on this time from a track called 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha' sung by Kumar Sanu from the film soundtrack to '1942 A Love Story'.

Track six is a special one. 'Come On' is a faultless slow jam, with a beautiful chord melody throughout. Describing the stresses of his job in the present tense, it's a great insight to the obstacles faced by an artist, as it's a theme that's not generally talked about in music. But more importantly, Raghav's given me a great chat up line: "My heaven on earth is in your eyes"…girls in Birmingham beware!! That's not to lower the tone, this is a great track which I cannot fault at all.

The tempo picks up for number seven, called 'Weakness'. A more punchy tune about getting freaky with a hot girl, its typical modern R&B at high quality. Decent production and vocals make this another good tune.

'Winter In My Mind' is a totally different flex, with jazz riffs replacing the R&B edge to astounding effect. Almost anti-desi, in how different it is to the usual stuff we talk about, you can feel the fresh air on your face to this very mature track. More great imagery and poetry in the chorus alongside the jazzy grooves mean you can sit down and listen or get grinding to this one.

Raghav rediscovers his Asian roots for track nine, another special track. 'Ain't Nobody' is an up-tempo Asian R&B with another strong performance from Raghav, who starts in English and does a trademark Hindi verse before the final chorus. You've got to rate anyone who performs in two languages, and Raghav does so with excellent effect, switching between tongues without even slipping a syllable.

His debut solo single is track 10, and 'Can't Get Enough' is as fresh on desi dance floors as it was earlier this year. We all know this one don't we?

'Angel Eyes' follows, which has a good dancehall splurt with a sultry chorus over the 'Murder She Wrote' beat. In my opinion, this is a remix of 'Teri Baaton', featuring and Frankey Maxx giving a heavier Caribbean feel. You want to move to this record and Raghav really sounds like he enjoyed doing this track.

The reggae beats continue with 'Sooner Or Later', which is slower than the previous track but still has the same strong hook. MC Kardinal Offishall adds flows to give a different edge from Raghav, but if you're not a dancehall aficionado you won't dig this track.

We really slow down for number thirteen, which has echoes of the earlier jazz track. 'Baby I'm Amazed' isn't scintillating to be honest with you. It's one of two tracks produced by Bluey of Incognito.

The album officially ends on track 14, 'Another Bad Goodbye' which is a bit of a demoralising way to end an album, lol (thank god for the bonus tracks!!). This has got Mariah Carey written all over it, from the piano to the heavy drum rolls and even the rhythms in the vocals. It's all right though; Raghav deserves credit for pulling off this type of track.

The two bonus tracks are great - because they're pure Asian. 'Chodh Diya' is the first and it opens with a sample sounding very similar to the one, which featured in 'Get Ur Freak On'. It's up-tempo, got great rhythms and I reckon would've got more airplay had the second bonus track not been so wicked.

'Teri Baaton' was the lost track as far as Asian music fans were concerned when Raghav came out. Using the 'Murda She Wrote' beat and with lyrics written by his mother (!), this track blows up clubs and everyone knows the chorus despite it only ever appearing on the Can't Get Enough single before now. I must confess that when this CD dropped on my desk I skipped straight to this tune as its just wicked.

Music Week magazine said that this album is 'packed with potential hits', and they're not wrong. The R&B flavour is evident throughout the 16 tracks, but with forays in and out of reggae, Bollywood and jazz there's a good variety of quality music on there. Production-wise you've got a whole host of top quality producers such as Mushtaq, Sly & Robbie, Hakon Lundby, Bluey of Incognito & Luke Smith which give it a different flavour throughout. Then, you've got some excellent poetic lyrics from Raghav and its just got hit written all over it. 'Storyteller' gets a big 9 out of 10 so make sure that our boy Raghav makes the top 5 in the album charts!!