It must be said, that girls are not very well represented in our scene. There's a few DJs, Ms Scandalous, Veronica and that's about it. So when a track called 'Don't Be Shy' came out from a girl band called Rouge about seven years ago (joke) suddenly all the desi kurrian started getting excited and thinking 'ooh, someone to speak for us' - and the guys got excited as well for other reasons. Finally, the threesome (I wish!) with the good looks and hit track have shook a little album together, it's called Rouge and this is what it is:

We begin with a flute and some sexy whispering on 'Fool For Her Love'. The girls get into the swing of things with plenty of adlibs over a beat courtesy of Envy stalwart Sanj (J Nas or whatever he calls himself these days). For an English R&B track, this is ok, not too powerful and the "shoo doo doo" bits and the American talking-esque bits are annoying, but things could be a lot worse. However, the first track on an album should be a lot stronger.

The second track is called 'Hush' and they've done a video for this. Sanj again provides the beats which aren't too bad, but I gotta say that the girls make a right hash of it. Now, Viv and Raj at Envy have undoubtedly left the studio with the hook from this going through their heads and it is catchy so it should be a single. Not quite. This hook is the most irritating piece of a song I've ever had to write about and I was really hoping they'd hush rather than telling the guy they're singing to. Hush? Shut yuh mout.

The galling choruses continue into 'I Like It When You', which is another Sanj production. So far, aside form some sexy whispering and a desi flute, there have been three tracks which are exactly the same. Lackluster R&B singing over manufactured melodies with no emotion or character at all and more importantly, a distinct lack of desi elements.

The inlay card credits Dr Zeus for production on the next track, called 'Shut Up', and yes they should. I was anticipating a 'Don't Be Shy' type track, sexy cool and smart, but for this number, all three Rouge girls do everything they can to be the blonde girl from Black Eyed Peas; standing up for the ladies, abusing their man, some shit MC'ing ("You want me boy you wish, Stop talking gibber-ish, blaah blaah blaah blamanamah blaah"); it's poor. I think it Zeus got abused in the studio as this production is nothing like his normal stuff.

Zeus stays behind the console for track five, 'Ladies', but it's still contemporary R&B with too many adlibs, no emotion and no X factor. Rouge would not win on Pop Idol. Although they have great looks and can sing a bit, they might even be able to dance, but they just haven't got that star quality in their music.

The vibes open up a bit for 'I'm Not Feeling You', which actually does have a bit of soul to it. There's a guest producer, Angus Campbell, who handily provides some summertime guitar sounds. The singing is again a bit lackluster and there are a lot of singers who would make much more of this, and it's the same message: hey guy, you're not good enough for us.

The next track is called 'Deep Love' and as you might expect, the music is more slowed down, a bit sexier and I think it's quite nice. It's got a really nice lazy snare sound and dark undertones and although it's got a bit of a Fruity loops dimension, it's good stuff. Until the girls start singing and take all the darkness, mystery and spirit out of it. These three simply cannot sing hooks.

'Angel' is a piano dominated track put together by Viv which achieves what it does through its simplicity. Melody and percussion with Rouge doing their best over the top. A nice breather.

The piano sounds stay on for track nine, called 'Gotta Go' which reverts to the old technique of slag off men and make a rubbish R&B song to front it. You won't have noticed the track has changed from the last one until the beat changes with a minute to go. When this happens the girls try and get more aggressive but it's just so false and manufactured.

Track ten is aptly called 'Step Up', and there is a step up on many fronts. Is that a baja? Is that an Indian flute? Even the girls sound better over this, especially the verse in Hindi although you would have expected the pronunciation to be of a higher standard. Yes! It's not just English!!!! Now, I bet you're thinking 'Zeus has found his game and that's why its better, but you'd be wrong as it's actually Kais pushing the buttons on this. Kais certainly did find his game, maybe not Zeus but he seems to have learned well. The flute instrumentation is identical to the tune 'Baby Girl' on J-Nas's Asian R&B; recycling as per EnvyRoma standard.

After that nice, dancey little number, we're then thrown back to the slow jam attempts with Viv on production. Still no soul or emotion and I'm still nowhere near convinced.

A desi flute!!!! Hold your breath, its Zeus, it sounds like he's found himself and given the license to make it a bit Indian on 'He's No Good'. Again, the singing sounds better on some good music, and the lyrics have a bit more wit to them ("body says yes, mind says no"), but the message is the same.

Sanj then gives us his desi-ish track, called 'Something About You', but this isn't on a par with the last one. Production is alright, but no character again.

Penultimate track is 'One For Me', which has a little flat Qawalli utterance and some more desi elements. This is a bit like Raghav's Indian stuff, but the lack of power in the girls' voices is the sticking point.

The last song is the first song, if you understand the myth of paradox. It's 'Don't Be Shy' which brought three fit students from the UK to the forefront, with a solid, free musical excursion by Dr Zeus. Sampling his own track 'Kangna', the inexperienced trio giving their all into a perfect R&B pop chorus telling us they want to feel our bodies touch their bodies. Expensive video, Juelz Santana and a pisstake on the EnvyRoma.com album, this is what Rouge should have done throughout their album.

Rouge; I've got to say it's a completely unoriginal album. Where does it draw its influences? Some American R&B acts, a bit of Raghav and a bit of Jay Sean, but adding these together brings nothing fresh. They are good acts in their own right but there's no solid earth, no soul or classic element; its manufactured pop trash, a strong concoction of music and capitalism. This has hindered the production team and made a CD which has been thrust down the mouths of the Asian market and really it's not an Asian album at all. There are three or so songs which have a desi twist, and those are all pretty subtle. Girls: stick to listening to the guys, and guys: forget Amrita, Legha and Laura, stick to Anjali, Sahara and Destiny. It gets 5 out of 10.