Comments for Aashna, Aashna

Yes, potential seems to be the word for AASHNA, the first release by Aashna of Canada''s YTV. However, this CD may lack overal depth, but it is very fun and is at no point uninteresting. If you love dance/pop, it does not get much better than this. "Not Asking For The World" is a gem, possibly influenced by Paula Abdul. The ballad "U Belong 2 Me" is very sensual while "Endlessly" is without a doubt sexual, and both these songs are great highlights. Perhaps Ms. Aashna should concentrate on smooth balladeering next time around, because it seems to be a strong point of hers. Her voice is certainly wonderful and smooth, and the harmonies are first-rate. She uses a lot of Indian influences all over the album, especially on stronger cuts like "Jaani" and "Kamasutra". This latter tune could easily be enjoyed by world music audiences for its sweet love tale and great flavour. Aashna also uses a lot of modern R&B and a little spice of rap here and there, and Aashna is not a bad release, but a showing that Aashna has the potential to be a mega-star and a great artist, provided she gets the right material and arrangements, since the talent and spirit, as well as her model-worthy, bombshell looks, is without a doubt there. Perhaps a step in the right direction would be to avoid the Canadian music scene and the bubblegum-pop YTV''s Hit List altogether.

A little background info on Aashna: for many years she has been seen on Canada`s TV channel YTV, hosting `the Shift` and `the Breakfast Zone`, then moving to the music video show HIT LIST in the late 1990s (after the making of this album). This album is a mixed blessing, but a fine effort. Aimed at the dance/pop audience, this album has some varied songs: some are straightforward dance floor numbers, a couple of ballads, and some in-between pop. The strong points are the sugary cute pop song "Not Asking For The World" (a little reminiscent of Paula Abdul), the ballads "Endlessly" and "U Belong 2 Me", the upbeat love-tale "Jaani" and sensual journey of "Kamasutra". Aashna, who was born in India, uses Indian influence on many of the tracks like a little sitar on "Not Asking For The World" and some Punjabi bhangra on songs like "Jaani". She also co-writes a good many of the songs. Aashna`s voice is wonderful; it is beautiful, smooth, and cute at the same time, and is capable of many things including power. Her strongest point in my opinion is her ballads, the stronger being "U Belong 2 Me", an urban modern R&B tune which is sensual and erotic, somewhat sounding of a Madonna influence. But even this and "Endlessly" are not too deep; the problem with even these songs is somewhat weak lyrics. This gets even worse on songs like "Push" and the single "A-Ya"; although these are made for the dancefloor and probably little more, the lyrics are somewhat `cheesy`. Aashna even nearly raps on songs like "A-Ya". "Family" has a positive ethnic equality theme. The dance songs are cute with pumping beats and pop hooks, and are attractive but shallow compared with songs like material like Nikki French`s "Total Eclipse Of The Heart". "Kamasutra", of strong Indian influence, is probably the strongest song of the album with the best lyrics and and sensual story, arrangement, and pristine vocals by Aashna. The sound effects throughout the album are sometimes a little annoying like the `let us kick butt` (Gandhi-like) on "Gimme Gimme" and the out-of-place violin on "A-Ya". The unclear direction of the album somewhat brings the album down, but it is an enjoyable experience provided you are open-minded. The overal feeling is that much of the music is quite shallow and fluffy material, but listening to this made me think; the arrangements are for the most part great, with mostly a clean sound and some funk used in good measure, and Aashna`s clear distinctive voice saves the album from drowning. This album has so far not been released outside of Canada. Aashna has a lot of potential, provided she choses better material with a little more depth and a clearer musical direction, she can easily become a huge unique international star. She is beautiful and sexy, so it is time she grew up out of her YTV clean-cut image and expand her horizons.