SHINee release “The Feeling”. Their comeback will be promoted as a three-piece. And it might be time to call it a day.

SHINee are set to make their group comeback with their 8th Korean studio album Hard, but have decided to release a song a little ahead of time, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their official fandom, SHINee World.

With the group back as a four-piece, all seemed well to fling SHINee back into the folk. But this is SM Entertainment. So of course, there is no plain sailing.

Everything was set for SHINee to put out a new album and run through promo as four-piece now that Taemin has returned from his military service and grown his hair out enough for some sew-ins. But then news broke that Onew was going to have to pull out of all promo activity for SHINee’s comeback due to health issues. No details were given, and nor should they be. It is none of our business. But hopefully it is nothing serious. Given the unfortunate history at SM of members who tragically lost battles to mental health, I hope Onew isn’t battling a similar type of situation.

I honestly think that SHINee should call it a day. The whole vibe and sound of “The Feeling” woulda made it a great farewell song.

SHINee hasn’t felt the same for quite some time. There’s just this sense that not every member’s heart is in it anymore. And from the looks of “Hard” and what we got with “Don’t Call Me”, SHINee are just being given concepts and sounds that we’ve gotten and get from NCT. SHINee seems like more of an obligation than a passion, as it once was. But each member of SHINee could very easily find success in other ventures. Taemin is one of SM’s favourites. Or at least he was when Lee Soo-Man had a say in anything. And Taemin really took to being solo, which fans and the industry responded well too. So that’s him set. And then there is SuperM, whenever SM decide to bring that back. Key has such a good eye for style and visuals, that I think he should consider becoming an creative director for SM. Onew could just be the solo SM crooner who puts out low key releases at his own pace. And Minho could either fall all the way into acting, having the most extensive filmography out of the group. Or he could become an in-house songwriter at SM, as he also the most extensive songwriting credits out of the group.

SM have an awful track record of ‘rehabilitating’ members after they disband or go on hiatus. Just look at Girls’ Generation. Sunny is laminating guest passes at the front desk. And Hyoyeon is only called to release something when SM are desperate to fill a space in their release schedule and want to remind people of Girls’ Generation. It’s truly dire.

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💿 Album review: Don’t Call Me