What do you do when you’re an artist with an already well-established visual and musical language? Do you tap back into what everyone loves you for, or try something new? Taemin is having a go at the latter in his newest 10-track EP PHASE 1: Soft Violence, promoting it with a title track we wouldn’t have expected from the singer. “FLOAT”, though being a house track, is much calmer than his usual main releases. While the music video is stunning – minimal styling meets gleaming, sultry imagery – the song itself is a stripped-down version of Taemin we’d usually expect to be sitting humbly on track seven of one of his albums, not the title. It’s a fully English endeavour with a bog-standard premise: “Float / Every time I’m with you, I just float / Every conversation seems to flow / I’m so done with being on my own, oh, I / Float.”
The song is as easy to listen to as its message. It’d blend into the background of a playlist: pleasant, but not exactly remembered. “Gooey”, which received a performance video, is simply not designed to be listened to as pure audio. The composition is chaotic, and what many don’t realise about the Asian music scene is that these songs are often created with visual performance in mind. It certainly shows Taemin’s ability to command a stage, but don’t be surprised if listening only gives you a lesser experience.
We return to proper music in “Let Me Be The One”, which, by the credit of artists like Bruno Mars bringing it back to town, is very authentic-sounding late ‘80s funk. Some aspects of the instrumental make you think of Michael Jackson, but Taemin’s vocals are so distinct and cleanly recorded that it pulls you right back to the modern day.
“Easy Loving You” gives off high school prom vibes; a warm acoustic melody is overlaid with upright bass and gentle percussion, which you could easily find yourself swaying beneath hanging lights to. Despite not being super exciting, it does show off some of Taemin’s most adored falsetto singing, akin to that in the chorus of his (very different sounding) hit “Advice”.
We return to Taemin’s signature sensual weirdness in “SKIN”, which arguably could’ve been the title track to sit amongst his greats like “CRIMINAL”, “WANT”, and, of course, “MOVE”. It even suits the album art much better. Very poetically, the physical album requires fans to tear the “skin” to open it up. “SKIN” is a beautiful return to Taemin’s beloved sound, while calling for a renewing of the self in its lyrics: “Peel it off now / Shedding all my skin down / Watch me change shape now.” It’s also the best composition of the album, with some vivid electronic elements and gorgeous breathy samples between Taemin’s words in the chorus.
“PARASITE”, gothic and dripping with drama, is another excellent number from the singer. Power ballad “Frankenstein” continues in the same vein, and “This Is The End” speaks of a rising from the ashes we hope to see in PHASE 2.
PHASE 1: Soft Violence doesn’t really live up to Taemin’s standards, because it’s Taemin. Trees have to bear a few bland fruits to make the sweet ones all the more enjoyable, and likewise Taemin has to release a couple “FLOAT”s to prepare us for the next “MOVE”. Let us clarify: this would be an A* album from anyone else. The vocals and variety would skyrocket any other K-Pop soloist to the top. Taemin has simply spoiled the music industry, and we’ve now all become brats for his excellence.
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Written by Maddie Armstrong
Featured image courtesy of Galaxy Corporation
View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to film, music, and the arts, with a strong focus on the Asian entertainment industry. As we continue to grow, we aim to deepen our coverage of Asian music while remaining committed to exploring and celebrating creativity across the global arts landscape.
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