Maps of Music

Don't Call Me (2021)

Where the lyrics of Don't Call Me take you, and where it was really made.

The album came out after roughly two and a half years away, and it is the first Shinee album without late member Jonghyun in any capacity.

Key places

Recording at SM Studios, Seoul (2021)

Recording site Big Hit Studios, Seoul — The source lists SM Studios in Seoul as the recording location for Don't Call Me. The point is set at city-center level, not at the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Private company studio, not open to visitors.

Album story

Overview

• Don't Call Me: seventh Korean studio album by South Korean boy group Shinee
• Released February 22, 2021 through SM Entertainment
• First release since three members completed military service (Taemin excepted)
• First Shinee album without late member Jonghyun in any capacity
• Genres span pop, hip hop, EDM, R&B and reggae
• No overarching theme; songs chosen to mark the group's return after almost three years
• Presented as a gift to fans
• Repackage album Atlantis released April 12, 2021

Background

• SM Entertainment announced the return on January 6, 2021
• Onew, Key and Minho were discharged from the military in July, September and November
• Minho said adjusting from soldier to K-pop singer took about two months
• Onew said the members helped him a lot with the choreography after his return
• Key said the title track was chosen for a dramatic change from earlier work
• Teaser images and a 'Fake Reality' mood sampler video came before the release

Recording

• Work on the album took around one and a half years
• Producers included Dem Jointz, Yoo Young-jin, Kenzie and Ryan S. Jhun
• Lee Soo-man, SM founder and executive producer, worked closely with the group on production and promotion
• Title track was initially intended for BoA's tenth studio album

Cover

• Cover and packaging used crisp, clean shots instead of the film camera shots and vintage clothing of earlier albums
• Packaging suited the distorted, fake reality theme the group described

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Artist

Formation

• Shinee is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008.
• The Korean name is a coined word combining "shine" with the suffix "ee", meaning "one who receives the light".
• The group debuted in May 2008 with the EP Replay.

Members

• The group currently consists of four members: Onew, Key, Minho, and Taemin.
• The group was originally a five-member band; Jonghyun died on December 18, 2017.

Career

• Shinee's signature style is contemporary R&B, incorporating funk rock, hip hop, and EDM.
• Their 2008 album The Shinee World won Newcomer Album of the Year at the 23rd Golden Disc Awards.
• "Ring Ding Dong" topped several Korean charts and gained popularity across Asia.
• Sherlock (2012) became the fifth best-selling album of the year in South Korea with over 180,000 copies sold.
• Shinee debuted in Japan in 2011 and became the first Asian artists to perform at Abbey Road Studios in London.
• They are regarded as one of the best live vocal groups in K-pop and have won the Mnet Asian Music Awards Best Dance Performance Award three times.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Kyunghyang Shinmun's Kim Jak-ga gave a positive review of the album
• Kim said the group never loses direction on how to express each song
• Kim wrote the album's songs are smoothly connected and flow like a wave
• NME's Puah Ziwei said the group meanders through echoes of their past hits and chases the latest trends
• Puah gave the album four stars out of five, finding hits easily outnumber misses
• The Line of Best Fit's Sophia Simon-Bashall felt the group claims new ground with the album
• Simon-Bashall noted the hip hop influence of the title track
• Beats Per Minute's J.T. Early saw the album as both a consolidation of what made them icons and an exciting glimpse into new directions
• Early viewed the diverse tracks as a great album for both newer and older fans

Records

• Debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart for the week ending February 27, 2021
• Debuted at number seven on the Billboard World Albums chart
• The Billboard entry was their first on that chart in three years and their twelfth top ten entry
• Shinee's best-selling album at the time of release

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album's phone hotline received so many calls that its servers went down temporarily, and even the members could not reach the number when they tried calling it.
• Fans could call the hotline to hear voice messages from the group and short snippets of the songs, and also leave their own voice messages.
• The album was sold in two photobook versions, 'Fake Reality' and 'Reality', and four jewel case editions.
• For the cover and packaging the group chose crisp, clean shots rather than the film camera and vintage looks of earlier albums.
• Minho filled in for Hyunjin of Stray Kids as guest MC on the March 6 broadcast of Show! Music Core.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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