Here are my credentials (again, again): Put simply, I’m a ShaWol, absolutely, and have been since 2020. But more deeply, finding SHINee was really the final step that made me the k-pop fan (and blogger) that I am today. I was a casual fan already, through first Blackpink and then Red Velvet, but SHINee was the first group I full-on stanned. I love all the members individually, Jonghyun especially, but together? They may just be my favorite k-pop group of all time. So why am I doing this? Well, I’ve already done all of their solo careers. But also this will be the 50th group I cover, and seeing as we’re coming right up to their 16th anniversary, it felt like the perfect moment. So, let’s do this!

(Part One) (Part Two)

Interlude~~Jonghyun & Mental Health

You can’t really do a review of SHINee without discussing Jonghyun, and as someone who became a ShaWol in large part because of him, I certainly can’t. A paragraph can’t really do all of his contributions to the industry, all of his important advocacy, or all of his kindness justice, but it’s worth speaking about him anyway and remembering that SHINee’s work post-2017 didn’t exist in a vacuum. Even in tracks not specifically about him, his presence is inescapable, for better or for worse. So, with that in mind, let’s continue.

Album #6: The Story Of Light

Good Evening is the first of three titles from the first of three EPs, combined into one album, marking SHINee’s 10th anniversary. I have to admit, even though I knew it was coming, hearing SHINee with only four voices was jolting. Though of course they still sound fantastic, there’s something missing. You can find that absence everywhere, in the airyness of the vocals, in the beauty of the  loose choreography as they start to fall and catch each other, in the space left: an empty chair or a shadow, or in the fury in which Key smashes a piano. The whole song feels like falling, really, or drowning, a kind of redo of View from an older, more cynical perspective.

I Want You picks up the pace a bit, with a more solidly poppy beat derived from tropical house. It’s, in a word, happier: the members are smiling, the video is all in pink, the chorus rushes forward, and there’s even a few touches of humor. It really takes off towards the end, when the ad libs come in in the bridge and last chorus, and you can see a glimpse of mid-2010’s SHINee. It’s my least replayed of the Story Of Light singles, but it’s still a good song.

Our Page has been, and likely always will be, one of my favorite k-pop songs of all time. It’s about grief and pain, but also friendship and music. The line “the beautiful words you left behind become a poem, become a song flying to me” breaks me every time, and I can’t think of a more stunning display of love than that. It may be the rawest music video I’ve seen in the industry, and besides that, it’s just a great song, written by the members themselves. Painful but tender, heavy but light, and defeated but hopeful, it’s a reminder that, at least for SHINee, Jonghyun’s memory will be carried on. If you have a spare few moments, please give it a listen—or even better, a watch.

Countless is the final single from the expansive Story Of Light album, and feels like a combination of all three before: it has the airiness from Good Evening, the tropical sound from I Want You, and the emotion from Our Page. It’s still subdued and low-key, but as it slowly builds towards the end, it’s a little like healing, and I hope it was for them too.

The Story Of Light stands as one of the strongest k-pop albums I’ve ever seen. I have several hidden gems, the quiet-at-first Chemistry that slowly becomes more expansive and the synth-meets-soft rock direction of Drive chief among them. I also enjoyed the gently vocalized Who Waits For Love and I Say, the distorted coffee-shop jazz of Retro, and the confident, minimalistic Jump.

Even among those, though, Lock You Down is unique. Created around spare recordings of Jonghyun’s voice, it’s the last release to feature all five of them, and it finally feels full. It’s a gift, and I didn’t realize how big that empty space was until it was filled again. And the song itself is so SHINee that it offers a glimpse into what The Story Of Light might have sounded like if Jonghyun was still here to be a part of it.

Album #7: Atlantis

Don’t Call Me was SHINee’s first release after The Story Of Light album, and also their first group comeback in 3 years. It pulls the SHINee sound in a different direction, with more of a hip-hop influence than usual, but the chorus brings it back with a solid hook and of course, their great voices. The strongest moment is undoubtedly the bridge, though, especially the moments where the instrumental pulls back and the vocals get time to shine. It’s not among their best, but it’s still solid.

Atlantis is the single from the repackage, and feels more quintessentially SHINee, or perhaps just more quintessentially 2nd gen k-pop with its instrumental flourishes, how it builds and pays off, and the way their vocals (always the star of the show) are used. The hook, despite the simplicity, is really catchy, and when it expands into the wider chorus, it feels earned. Also, I love the combination of the classical strings, EDM, and acoustic guitar; I wish it was used more in k-pop.

From the album, also called Atlantis, I enjoyed the mostly falsetto chorus of Area, the dance-floor ready beat of Heart Attack, the ultra-smooth hook of Marry You, and the surprisingly charming sound effects of I Really Want You. For my hidden gem, I couldn’t decide between the beautifully sung and practically perfectly harmonized Kind and the tropical, catchy Body Rhythm.

Album #8: HARD

The Feeling marks fifteen years since SHINee’s debut, and does so in spectacular fashion. The song itself is breezy and dreamy, much like the ones from the Story Of Light, but unlike those singles, there’s an undercurrent of genuine hope and joy that pushes it forward. The lyrics, centering around enjoying life and the love the members have for each other, are moving,  and got a smile out of me. And speaking of smiling, it was wonderful to see them smile together. All in all, it feels like a breath of fresh air. What a return!

HARD is the official single from this album, and I have to be honest, I think this is the only SHINee song I genuinely dislike. I have no idea what the thought process was with this one. It’s painful on the ears and feels like an NCT 127 reject, so why on Earth was this the track chosen for the single and not Identity or Gravity or any of the other excellent ones from the album? I digress.

From the album, HARD, I enjoyed the jazzy piano of 10X, the crying-on-the-dancefloor perfection of Satellite, the self-assured delivery of ethereal Like It, and the lovely lyrics of Gravity. My hidden gem, though, was Identity, without a doubt. Solidly disco and absolutely primed for the dance floor, it’s about embracing who you are, no holding back, and may be one of the queerest k-pop tracks I’ve ever heard, which is saying something. I wish it had been the title.

Single #1: Poet | Artist

To say I was emotional when I learned that the title for SHINee’s 17th anniversary single was Poet | Artist, the same as Jonghyun’s final posthumously released album, would be a massive understatement. Our Page has long been my favorite SHINee song, and this feels like a spiritual successor to it in so many ways, not in the least because Jonghyun wrote it. I think it was Kibum who said, “Our Page is what we wanted to say to him; Poet | Artist is him talking to us”, and that’s so very true.

And he didn’t just write it—his voice permeates the entire song, and in fact the bridge is just Jonghyun vocalizing while his band members dance along and catch confetti falling from the sky. The song too is just so him, feeling right at home in one of his albums with its mix of pop, funk and R & B, spacey sound, and wistful, wandering vocals. It’s the greatest tribute they could give someone who loved music so much, and whose creations are a huge part of why and how kpop became what it is. I cried, I admit it. I am so proud, and I know Jonghyun would be too.

Verdict: TL;DR

I’m glad I did this! Like I mentioned,  SHINee is one of my favorite (if not my outright favorite) groups of all time, and I didn’t think I could love them more, but look at that, I was wrong. Going through their work reminded me of how talented they all are, and how they’re that rare group that, when they combine their talents, they create something greater than their parts. I fell into a spiral of just watching old content from them, and you know what, I can’t say I regret it.

My Top 5 songs were Our Page, Lucifer, Tell Me What To Do, Why So Serious, and Y Si Fuera Ella, with The Feeling, Identity, and Hitchhiker as honorable mentions. SHINee gets a 10 out of 10 from me, which is about what I expected. I feel like I really went on a journey listening to their hours of work, and despite a couple hiccups here and there, I can’t deny that the vast majority of their work is incredibly strong, cohesive, and never fails to get me dancing. And more often than not, I find that it’s exactly what I need. More often than not, I find that listening to SHINee feels like coming home.

Next time, we’re back with our regularly scheduled programming! Tschüss!

(Part One) (Part Two)