SHINee Onew, challenges continue even in his 18th year… ‘Animal’ with singing rap(comprehensive)[DA : On-site]
Even in his 18th year since debut, he chose a challenge rather than an easy path.ONEW’s Onew left SM Entertainment last year and joined hands with a new agency to stand on his own.He has been meeting fans on various stages without rest and has returned with his second full-length album, which is packed with 11 songs.
On the 15th at 3 PM, Onew’s media showcase to commemorate the release of his second full-length album ‘PERCENT’ was held at Myeonghwa Live Hall in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.On this day, Onew performed the title song ‘ANIMALS’ live and participated in a Q&A session with reporters.
He said, “It’s been 18 years since my debut, and I’ve been promoting by releasing mini-albums and single albums.As a soloist, I haven’t done many full-length album promotions, but I thought it was time, so I prepared a full-length album.” He explained, “I wanted to quantify various emotions.I quantified the various emotions I feel in life using percentages and interpreted them as I felt them.”
Onew returns with a new album after about 5 months since the release of his 4th mini album ‘CONNECTION’ in January.His 2nd full album ‘PERCENT’ is Onew’s own record of being emptied, filled, and completed.He expressed his belief that although one can never be complete on their own, imperfect beings are also beautiful in their own right through music.Onew directly participated in the entire song production.
The title song ‘ANIMALS’ is a track that captures the moment of liberation of instinct, with a cleanly refined bass line and acoustic guitar sound forming the heart of the song.Onew said, “It’s an exciting song.It contains a message about awakening the instincts within us.I hope you enjoy it together by awakening your own instincts.” He explained, “I wanted to try something new.The pre-released ‘Confidence’ was also a candidate for the title song.Since it’s summer, I thought people would like refreshing and exciting sounds, so I prepared ‘ANIMALS’ as the title song to fit the season.”
Onew, who showed off his singing rap in the title song ‘ANIMALS’.He said with a smile, “I sometimes think that doing too well might interfere with the song, but I tried my best not to be a burden to the song.I hope you think of it as showing what I can do now.”
Onew introduced the tracklist, saying, “The song that I tried and challenged the most was the English song ‘MAD.’ I was proud because I had heard before that my pronunciation was good.People living abroad seem to hear it differently.I recorded it with the pronunciation I thought was right, but then I revised and recorded it again.”
The new album contains the title track, as well as “Silky” which melts flowing sounds centered around the themes of laziness and rest, “Caffeine” which presents strong addiction through unique harmony texture, “Marshmallow” which expresses the feeling of the moment of falling in love through sound, “Confidence” which symbolically depicts Onew’s inner rhythm that moves forward without wavering even in uncertainty, and “Orange OKㅋ” which humorously delivers small and certain comfort in the repetitive daily life.
The album consists of a total of 11 tracks, including ‘Far Away’, which vividly highlights the desire to run away from the tangled chaos with sharp sound contrasts, ‘MAD’, which delicately captures the difference in emotional temperatures and reminisces about the regressive emotions of parting, ‘PERCENT(%)’, which experimentally expresses the spectrum of complex emotions, ‘Epilogue’, which leads the narrative of the song with honest vocals without exaggeration, and ‘Happy Birthday’, which conveys hope for a new beginning and expresses that every moment is blessed.
Onew said, “I personally think the album is about 60-70% complete.I also think that I need to improve myself more, and I couldn’t have made it by myself with all my abilities.I needed help from many people around me and the love of my fans.Considering how many people have waited for it, I quantified it to be a little over halfway complete.”
He said, “While participating in the overall work, I realized, ‘I really can’t do this alone.’ I had to continuously give feedback during the decision-making process, so they waited for me a lot even in the middle of the work,” and “I felt it even more while working on ‘Epilogue.’ I think I easily thought and talked about how I was doing well and would continue to do well in the future.I started to wonder if it was okay to accept so many things so easily.I started to worry about how I could satisfy more people.”
Onew added, “We are having a pop-up store event today and will be starting a concert in early August.We will also be going on a world tour and will be going to Europe and South America, so please show us lots of interest and love.” He continued, “I am constantly working, but I will try my best to be an artist who has as much positive influence as possible within the time I have.I hope that everyone who knows me and doesn’t know me will be happy.”
Onew’s 2nd full-length album ‘PERCENT’ will be released today(the 15th)at 6 PM through various music sites.On the same day, Onew will also open a pop-up store ‘ONEW 2ND ALBUM’ PERCENT ‘POP - UP STORE’ to commemorate the release of his 2nd full-length album ‘PERCENT’ at the open stage on the 1st floor of the Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam branch in Seoul.
Reporter Jeong com -yeon, Donga.com shine2562@donga
This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.
