SHINee first debuted in 2008 with their single “Replay”, but at that time, no one expected the group to evolve into the Korean powerhouse they are now. Fast forward to 7 years later, the 5-member boy group is now a force to be reckoned with.
SHINee mesmerised thousands of fans from around the globe with the charming traits of humourous leader Onew, artistic composer Jonghyun, multi-faceted actor Minho, talented “Almighty Key“, and handsome maknae Taemin. Not only did the group make waves in Korean variety shows like “Star Golden Bell” and “Hello Baby”, they also continued to churn out hit songs after hit songs.
The group catapulted into international fame with the release of their 2nd and 3rd album, “Lucifer” and “Sherlock“. The albums, which featured tracks written and composed by members of the group, topped various physical and digital sales chart in South Korea. “Lucifer”, “Sherlock”, and “Hello” were amongst the popular tracks that derived from these albums.
In 2013, SHINee released 2 albums, which were titled “Dream Girl – The Misconceptions of You” and “Why So Serious? – The Misconceptions of Me”. Both albums were then compiled into an album titled “The Misconceptions of Us”. That year proved to be the year of SHINee, as “Symptoms (상사병)”, the secondary title track from their 2013 mini album “Everybody”, proved to be a crowd favourite. Various music sites even listed it as the best SHINee song ever produced.
With their increasing popularity, it was only a matter of time before SHINee got their own world tour. Fans’ wishes came true when the group announced their first world tour titled “SHINee CONCERT “SHINee WORLD III” in 2014. From South Korea to Indonesia to Mexico, they toured around the world and performed live in front of their fans. Unfortunately, Malaysia was not included in the list of their touring countries.
Their successful first world tour was followed by “SHINee CONCERT “SHINee WORLD IV”, which they recently kicked off in Seoul on 15th May 2015. No future shows have been scheduled yet, but Malaysia was once again excluded from their list of their touring countries. They did , however, perform in our country as joint headline acts at the post-race concert for the 2015 Formula 1 PETRONAS Malaysia Grand Prix earlier in March this year.
SHINee continued to prove that they are capable of producing their own tracks with their own unique music style through their most recent effort, “Odd“. “Odd” has been described as a “mixture of diverse senses”, as multiple international producers such as Stereotypes and The Underdogs, LDN (London) Noise, G’harah “PK” Degeddingseze, Kenzie, and Steven Lee helped produce the album.
All thanks to our friends from M.E. Malaysia, we had the chance to talk to the boys about “Odd” and their hopes for the future through an e-mail interview.
Wanna know what went down in the interview? Read on to find out 😉
You just presented your 4th album “Odd”. Can you explain the concept for this album? Where did you get the motivation for the album? Is there any hidden meaning behind it?
Jonghyun: As you all can expect from our album titled “Odd”, it is a unique album just like the title. We wanted to show a variety of unique and odd elements through this album. Since this is our 4th studio album, we really put a lot of thoughts in it, both in musical parts and its artworks. I hope you like all the songs.
Please share the concept and music style of the title track “View” with us.
Jonghyun: Our title track, “View”, is a deep house track and it mixes SHINee’s unique feeling into the music. The style of the song is the kind that is not very popular in Korea, but we are trying different things to represent SHINee. The songs sound perfect for summer and we want our fans to spend their summer listening to our music.
We heard that the music video for your title track, “View”, was filmed in Thailand. Was there a reason for this? Are there any interesting stories you want to share with us?
Jonghyun: First of all, we wanted to shoot our video overseas. Secondly, all of us (SHINee members) had a wish to enjoy a vacation together in Thailand. What should I say about Thailand? It’s a place I wanted to go and play with the members. It was fun filming the MV as the exotic atmosphere in Thailand was well captured in the MV.
Minho: When we visited Thailand, it was one of the hottest seasons in the year. The members sweated a lot.
For this album, Jonghyun participated in writing and composing the songs, please tell us more about the tracks you have participated in. Where do you get the motivation for writing and composing songs from?
Jonghyun: It will be really nice if you listen to “Romance” as it’s a really unique and special song.
Minho: There’s also a song called “Love Sick”. I highly recommend fans to listen to it.
You recently had your 4th Asian Tour, what was the last thing you thought of before taking the stage?
Jonghyun: We were quite nervous. The concert was supposed to be held for 2 days, but the tickets were all sold out. So we added 1 more day as we wanted to satisfy our fans. We think that it was the first time a group has done that in Korea. With fans’ energy, we ended our concert safely and happily. Also, it was important that no one got hurt!
Minho: Fans prepared different events every day during the concert so I was really touched.
Going back to the album and the title track “View”, when you talk about SHINee, we cannot leave out the creative choreography. Please share the main points for this choreography with us.
Jonghyun: When you think of SHINee, precise, accurate, powerful and conceptual group dance would be the first thing that pops into your mind. Our title track, “View”, however, is a little different. You can find a more relaxed and groovy choreography this time round.
Minho: There is a part of the choreography where you can move your shoulders up and down with us. It will be great if a lot of people like it.
It was SHINee’s 7th anniversary since debut. So far, was there any memorable moment? Also, what do you want to achieve from now?
Onew: Even though I always says this to the fans, every moment is very precious to us. We cannot forget all the moments since our debut. We want to improve more and experience many things with you guys in the future.
We would like to express our utmost gratitude to M.E Malaysia once again for arranging the interview for us.
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