Surinder Rattan of "The Lick" fame makes a return from the depths of anonymity with this debut EP. When I first heard of the album I didn't know what to make of it, obviously Tappe from "The Lick" is widely regarded as a pioneering track, starting a mass new wave of interest into Bhangra, but that was a long time ago and the music has progressed to an almost unrecognizable level from then.

The album begins with a weird intro, which is a compilation of quotes. The desired effect of it only they would know that. To be blunt its nonsense.

The first track, Kala Kala Munda, now renamed Dil Mangda due to the change in meaning created by the spelling in English. Reading it, it seems like Kala as in Black, rather than Kala as in alone; therefore it's now known as Dil Mangda. The track itself starts with a solo by Cheshire Cat, personally its really off putting but as soon as the music starts you begin to get drawn in, by an almost hypnotic effect, such is the subtle melody. The music in the main portion of the track is upbeat without needing a mass injection of banging bass. The vocals from Labh Janjua are strong and clear and the music compliments them rather than drowning them out.

'Tappe' evokes all sorts of nostalgic feelings, because for a lot of people it's the first experience of bhangra and also it's one of those tracks that almost everyone knows word for word. On first hearing it this one seems strange and seems to dilute from the original, but it's a good track in its own right therefore some well-deserved credit to Mike Ruffcut Lloyd for his contribution. The strong bass has its effect in giving the track an underground garage feel. The vocals have gone into the realms of legend so the need the comment on them is extinguished. However, some of the MC'ing from Mc Metz leaves a lot to be desired.

To be perfectly honest 'Shakeen Gabru' is not my sort of thing, this however does not detract from the fact that it's a nice and well-put together track. The music has a smooth feel to it, again complimenting the vocals, which are clear allowing the emphasis on the lyrics, which are the center of this track. Rubela is the one behind the vocals on this one and what can I say her, her voice is damn good so remember the name, as I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more of her in the future.

Next is 'Tappe Dub', which is basically the instrumental to Tappe but with the MC'ing still in. Not much use to anyone except DJ's and a few people who mess about with those sorts of programs on their computers, which accounts for a small percentage of people who buy the music.

The last track is 'Aja Aja'. The first thing that strikes you about this one is the music has a strong RnB feel to it, so therefore when the slow sung vocals start it seems a kind of mismatch. The rest of the track does seem to blend the vocals and music together so the initial problem is overcome. The lyrics are well sung, retaining the intensity and passion of the lyrics. A slight downside to not only this track but also the majority of the tracks has some sort of rapping in portions of the track. My personal belief is that they should have a link with the track itself, even though they may be good in their own right. In this case there is a sort of link but it's a very tenuous one.

The outro is infinitely better than the intro because at least you can make some sense of it, but to be honest its not significant enough to deserve any real comment.

Overall I can't criticise this EP too much because it has given us arguable THE track of the summer, if you are in any doubt which one, I'm talking about Dil Mangda of course. So for Surinder this will be seen as a success, not only because of the track but it has brought his name to the forefront once again as a quality artist. Although three good tracks don't make an album he will invariably be associated with his success.

However, from music buyer's point of view the album doesn't offer good value with only four tracks excluding the intro, outra and an instrumental. I mean I can see why Surinder Ratten would want to release an EP to get his name on the map before he comes up with a full album but to charge the bhangra listener £10 for 4 tracks is nothing short of daylight robbery. The label is a Kamlee records, which is one of a many names used by Moviebox, so no surprise there as they have done the exactly the same with the EP's Untruly Yours and Ambersariya. I don't think I am being unreasonable by saying a 4-track EP should retail at nothing more than about £6. Correct me if I'm wrong but if you want to eliminate illegal copying and selling of music, ripping people off doesn't seem the best way of going about, unless this problem is addressed most people will be happier downloading rather than buying their music. Back to the album itself, taking everything I've mentioned into consideration I will give the EP 6 out of 10 so if he can maintain the same sort of quality for the songs in his first full album it will definitely be one to watch out for.