Review: SHINee - Don't Call Me

SHINee are undisputable K-Pop legends. Replay, Everybody, Tell me What to Do, Good Evening, Kimi No Seide are all masterpieces, and that is a very, very incomplete list. Prior to their hiatus, they were slowly becoming less commercial. Sure, Story of Light would have been a hit either way, but I loved the experimentation.

Don't Call Me as an album takes SHINee back to the funk style they mastered around 2013. The teasers suggested an experimental masterpiece as a title track, while the previews suggested a classic SMP dance track. Does Don't Call Me live up to its expectations? Not really.

The song is a mix of the hip-hop hardstyle NCT have somewhat masterpiece, with elements of classic Yoo Young-Jin SMP. The first verse instantly sets up a great groove, even if the instrumental is a bit overdone. Thankfully, the pre-chorus is SHINee doing what SHINee does best, showing off their excellent vocals, Onew in particular has a great return.

The chorus sounds like mid-2010s EXO. I get Monster and Overdose vibes throughout. This normally would be a bit cloying and overdone, but this is SHINee we are talking about. Their years of experience show, as their vocals sound great and perfectly managed, while they know exactly when to pull back and sound aggressive. This is why they are SHINee.

Minho's second verse is not what I expected, but it is solid nonetheless. It is much more aggressive than classic SHINee, but Minho does not seem to have lost that luster from the second generation one bit. I also want to note that Taemin has truly grown as a vocalist. He now lives up to the title of a lead vocalist. Minus his high-note the bridge is somewhat underwhelming.

Thankfully, the final chorus is great SHINee. A key change, along with excellent piano usage really succeeds.

As a normal song, this would be great, but it is the return of K-Pop's SHINee. The SHINee, absolute legends, and is thus a little underwhelming. I love the vibe (even if a stronger instrumental would help). Thankfully, SHINee easily improves this sort of my material, and their album has the classic material we commonly correlate with the group.

In fact, for the next few days, I'll review one of the album tracks each day! Check it out and enjoy!

Rating: 8.25/10

Image Source: Deforested Music