SHINee's Jonghyun releases first solo album
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Singer Jonghyun of K-pop group SHINee poses for his first full-length album cover. / Courtesy of S.M. Entertainment
By Kim Jae-heun
SHINee’s Jonghyun released his first solo album “She Is” online at midnight, Monday.
The leader of the K-pop boy band previously issued a mini-album “BASE” last September, but this is his first full-length release.
“After finishing the tracks, I finally released my full-length album,” said Jonghyun during a press conference at Platoon Kunsthalle in Gangnam, southern Seoul, Monday.
“I tried to concentrate on telling a story on the album,” he said. “I thought of one character, a man who has fallen in love, singing all the tracks. He is sweet, witty and sly. On other albums, I can have many people singing different tracks but that was not the case this time.”
The K-pop idol’s new album consists of nine songs including the title track. “She Is” is an electro-funk song with a repeating melody and lyrics that are easy to sing along with. The second track “White T-Shirt” is the tropical house genre with an uptempo beat that harmonizes with a country-style piano melody.
Internationally renowned songwriters such as LDN Noise, Bryan-Michael Cox and Korean hip hop artist Crush produced the tunes for him. Jonghyun worked alone on his previous albums and wrote songs for popular musicians IU, Lee Hi, Lim Kim and EXO.
“On my new album, I chose certain genres of music, and I wanted experts to work on it,” said Jonghyun. “I knew, that way, it would create synergy in producing sounds that I really wanted. I had fun working with them.”
The singer also added that he did not get inspiration from any artists in his new music but he always enjoys listening to singer Prince and acid jazz band Jamiroquai.
When asked to give a grade for his album, Jonghyun said 6.5 out of 10. He said he can never be satisfied with his songs once they leave his hands.
In the future, the singer hopes to collaborate with Korean artist Dean who could not participate this time.
Jonghyun also hinted that he has already written a song for Red Velvet, a girl band from the same agency, for a later release.
“The song She Is is a bright dance song that goes well with summer,” he said. “I made it the title track because I loved it the most. It is a great song to listen to with your lover.”