In addition to a fantastic full album, SHINee’s 2018 has seen new Japanese work from Taemin and a posthumous release from Jonghyun. One member we don’t hear from as often when it comes to solo music is Key. Four years ago, he formed the project duo Toheart with Infinite’s Woohyun, but beyond that he’s only released new material in drips and drabs. Thankfully, that’s about to change. A full album is on the way, heralded by pre-release track Forever Yours. If this song is anything to go by, I can’t wait to hear what else Key has up his sleeve.
Prior to its release, Forever Yours was described as “tropical.” My claws instantly came out upon hearing that, but although the familiar tropical blips and bloops are omnipresent throughout the track, the end product feels more like good old-fashioned synthpop than today’s trend-littered top 40. Producers LDN Noise imbue the melody with their trademark retro influence, providing a slick (though repetitive) hook and an even stronger post-chorus. Its verses are less memorable, largely coasting on the instrumental’s amiable groove.
The choice to add Soyou as a duet partner is an odd one, made even more disorienting by having her vocals kick off the track. I’ve always loved Soyou’s voice, but I think a song like this works better with a slightly grittier tone. The vibe is perfectly suited to Key though, and the two blend well as Forever Yours reaches its effervescent climax. In the world of K-pop, pre-releases aren’t always promoted. Forever Yours doesn’t feel like a knock-down, drag-out title track, but it doesn’t have to. As a taster for what’s to come, it’s definitely piqued my interest. Now bring on the album!
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
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So, to sum up: in 11 months SHINee had 16 new tracks + 3 official MVs + N live TV promotions + 4 Japanese tour dates + 2 new solo albums (1 is forthcoming with a pre-release MV and probably a title track official MV).
Isn’t it a little bit *too much* for a group that 11 months ago lost a member due to a suicide caused by stress?
SM Entertainment massive overload of productions in 2018 (including EXO and NCT) is something I can’t really understand. It seems like they don’t care at all to their artists’ health and wellness. And – uhm – in terms of results SHINee + EXO + NCT together don’t make the boombastic 2018 of BTS.
I guess something, at least in the marketing strategy, should be fine tuned.
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I’m sorry but the points you’re trying to make here are way off base. First of all SHINee is keeping busy this year largely because they want to, they’ve said themselves that they want to continue promoting without people treating them differently or with pity or as “the group that should be mourning” or something. Throwing yourself into work is a totally valid way of dealing with grief. Now, you could argue that SM is pushing them into doing so many activities just for the profits, but throughout this year the members have been looking much happier and enjoying spending time with their fans (both Shawols and SHINee have been dealing with all these emotions together and they’ve said their fans have been a big part of their healing process).
Secondly, Jonghyun’s suicide was not solely a result of “stress,” he had severe depression which can do all kinds of things to the mental health of a person completely regardless of the pressures of their work. For all we know he could’ve completely enjoyed everything he was doing and making music could’ve been one of the only things bringing him happiness. There’s no way to know for sure and people need to stop making false assumptions about Jonghyun in order to fit their narratives.
Lastly, SM has a lot of artists. They have more groups than any other company in the industry. Obviously their output is going to be high every year, especially for their younger groups like NCT who they are trying to establish in the industry. I’m not one to defend SM for their practices of overworking their artists, since they definitely have in the past and pr
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I’m sorry but the points you’re trying to make here are way off base. First of all SHINee is keeping busy this year largely because they want to, they’ve said themselves that they want to continue promoting without people treating them differently or with pity or as “the group that should be mourning” or something. Throwing yourself into work is a totally valid way of dealing with grief. Now, you could argue that SM is pushing them into doing so many activities just for the profits, but throughout this year the members have been looking much happier and enjoying spending time with their fans (both Shawols and SHINee have been dealing with all these emotions together and they’ve said their fans have been a big part of their healing process).
Secondly, Jonghyun’s suicide was not solely a result of “stress,” he had severe depression which can do all kinds of things to the mental health of a person completely regardless of the pressures of their work. For all we know he could’ve completely enjoyed everything he was doing and making music could’ve been one of the only things bringing him happiness. There’s no way to know for sure and people need to stop making false assumptions about Jonghyun in order to fit their narratives.
Lastly, SM has a lot of artists. They have more groups than any other company in the industry. Obviously their output is going to be high every year, especially for their younger groups like NCT who they are trying to establish in the industry. I’m not one to defend SM for their practice of overworking their artists, since they definitely have in the past and probably still do, but the fact of them having many projects this year doesn’t necessarily mean anything other than that they are putting a lot into promoting their groups right now, which in this insanely fast-paced industry is just the reality of things in order to stay relevant.
I also have no idea what you’re trying to say with comparing them to BTS. BTS is in their own stratosphere right now and trying to argue that a 10 year old group, a group that only just came back after a year and half, and a young group still trying to establish themselves should equal the results of the hottest, trendiest boy group in the world at the moment is pretty pointless.
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