“I want to ignite a new version of myself,” Taemin declares in the opening line to “Sexy in the Air,” the title track to Eternal, his first album since signing with BPM Entertainment for his solo work. Taemin has always had a strong signature style, but his move from SM Entertainment to BPM brings an opportunity to experiment. His previous single “Guilty” pushed boundaries conceptually. With Eternal, however, Taemin seems more focused on songwriting: he has composition credits on all tracks and lyric credits for two. Indeed, the album emphasizes complex soundscapes in a way that portends a new musical direction.
Eternal features an eclectic mix of genres, sometimes even within the same song. “Sexy in the Air,” for instance, incorporates grungy electric guitar into Taemin’s signature midtempo groove. About 2/3 of the way through the song, the genre switches to drill, which heightens a sense of drama as Taemin whispers, “Damn, this is crazy. What am I gonna do now?” It is less of a question than a provocation, setting up that Taemin could do anything.
The Dem Jointz-produced song not only features this change-up, but also has a slightly unconventional structure, with no pre-chorus sections, and prolonged instrumental break in the outro. During a listening session for the album, Taemin stated that “a song with a perfect narrative structure is Shinee’s cliché”, and he wanted to veer from that. “Sexy in the Air” certainly does not feel perfect and tidy — with the long outro, the song ends but does not feel resolved. The boldness of the composition and production choices make the song work in spite of that.
“Sexy in the Air” does transition satisfyingly to a symphony of synths in the second title track, “Horizon.” In this song, Taemin explores 80’s-style synthpop. Vigorously energetic, the song centers around Taemin’s assertion, “Cause better days come.” It is also a song intended to highlight performance, featuring some of the fastest choreography Taemin has ever done. Taemin maintains the brisk tempo of “Horizon” with funky electropop track “Crush,” which gives the album its most exuberant moments with its repetition of “na na na”. Like “Sexy in the Air,” “Crush” infuses electric guitar to bring more of an edge to the funky beats and vocal layering.
One of the defining features of Eternal is that the songs have fascinating layers in their production. For example, the album’s opener, hip-hop track “G.O.A.T,”- hip-hop track, embeds sound effects, including an actual bleating goat that brings some cheekiness to the song. As with other songs on the album, the bridge brings a bit of a switch-up, with Taemin’s vocals floating over jazzy piano, before dropping back down into heavy beats.
Meanwhile, ballad “The Unknown Sea” starts off simply, with Taemin singing to a piano accompaniment. The song adds layers as it progresses, with beautiful background vocals, then lush instrumentation and strong, heartbeat-like percussion. The mix of the song foregrounds the instrumentals, when a power ballad would typically emphasize the vocals. Listening to the second half of the song feels a bit like experiencing the swelling waves of a sea.
“The Unknown Sea” exemplifies Taemin’s interest in text painting in Eternal. As he stated during the Eternal listening session, he carefully considered how to match melody and his vocal tone with the lyrics. Crafting a metaphor of a butterfly encountering the sea for the first time, the song expresses the overwhelming feelings associated with experiencing something new:
Evеn with wings
I could only see the sea in front of me
Thе sky where I could fly
Always seemed like an unknown to me
Taemin’s emotive vocal performance, at times delicate and powerful, portrays both the nervousness and empowerment that comes from facing change. The song initially feels disconnected from the preceding track “Horizon,” but they share imagery and themes of facing uncertainty.
“Deja Vu,” one of the two songs whose lyrics Taemin wrote, similarly utilizes imagery and metaphor to muse about the past, present, and future. Long fascinated with quantum physics, Taemin depicts a person who has traveled through wormholes into different dimensions. Fittingly, with its brooding, sultry mood and intricately layered instrumentals, “Deja Vu” feels almost otherworldly. Music and lyrics combine to dramatize a person discovering himself and his place in the universe. The song brings the grandeur required for such lofty subject matter, and is a highlight of the album as a result.
Narratively, Eternal begins with songs of self-confidence (“G.O.A.T.”, “Sexy in the Air”), then explores self-discovery and growth (“Horizon”, “The Unknown Sea”, and “Deja Vu”). Album closer “Say Less” reveals a place of contentment after his personal journey:
Say less
At the end of a long journey
I found the process that is you
I feel relieved
I feel like I can do anything
While Taemin may seek to play with “perfect narrative structure” in individual songs, he does provide a fitting conclusion to the story of growth and transformation told throughout the album.
Still, this story is not yet over. Taemin recently said that this album would be his last “commercial” release. One can already sense Taemin shifting in a direction where he is constantly trying to innovate. He has taken on songwriting, and strives to expand how he expresses himself musically. Eternal feels like a transitional album revealing Taemin’s evolving artistry, the first step in a more experimental creative journey.
(YouTube. Lyrics via Genius [1][2]. Images via Big Planet Made Entertainment).
