'shinee's back!'

don't call me; shinee

[mini album review]

best songs: marry you, kiss kiss, heart attack

rating: 8.9/10

i'm not going to lie. i felt unsure and a bit concerned about how they would handle jonghyun’s absence. he was such a prominent aspect of shinee’s music. even in “the story of light” trilogy, their music felt incomplete. you could feel the hole.

fast forward 3 years and shinee have done something brilliant with this new album. they covered the hole missing in their music, but they did it in the most shinee way possible. what did they do? they added a quirkiness that they're known for and pushed the vocals. in a way, they used much of jonghyun’s strengths to create a more complete sound. even though jonghyun isn’t there, you can feel him in the music if that makes sense.

another thing i found cool was how "shinee" this album sounded. they really channelled their core well on here. it isn't super experimental like "the story of light" but its shinee through and through.

if there is one word to describe this album its ‘colourful’. apart from the clever melodies and vibrant production, their colourful use of vocals was outstanding (see: “marry you”, “kiss kiss” “i really want you”). shinee came back and reminded us of the strength of a 2nd gen group's vocals whilst still adapting to pop evolution. this album is quite literally bursting with colour. the song that best encapsulates this is “kiss kiss”. the bass guitar gives a very natural summer sound. but it was the guitar riff in the chorus paired with the vocals at the end of the chorus that sold the song for me. it reminds me of “american boy” by estelle and kanye!

most people were gushing about "body rhythm" when it was released, but i think "kiss kiss" is the best one one the album. at the very least, it represents the album the best. its simple but strong in a way that "body rhythm" lacked, though im glad i got reggae from them.

another thing that stood out to me was just how catchy most of the songs. they stick to your ear easier than in previous albums.

shinee should be very proud of themselves. this album is very likely to make my end of year list.