Recently, K-pop star Taemin has been looking into the big things. Well, actually, they’re the very small things – the world of atoms, sub-atoms and the fundamental building blocks of everything in existence. “Those are things I really thought about when I was really young!” he tells NME over a video call from Seoul. “About consciousness, about whether this moment right now is truly real, about the concept of time…” He trails off in an excitable way that is immediately recognisable to anyone who’s found themself desperate to talk about their new obsession with anyone who will listen.
“This whole field about the quantum, that what we think is this small unit but is actually something like magic, I found it interesting so I started looking it up and just kept getting deeper into it,” he says enthusiastically about the unlikely inspirations for his new mini-album, ‘Eternal’. It’s his first release under Big Planet Made, the label he joined after leaving long-time agency SM Entertainment. More notably, though, it’s also the first project in the SHINee singer’s decade-long solo career that he’s had substantial creative input in.
Folding the idea of the quantum realm into an album comeback may feel expansive, but Taemin has never shied away from lofty concepts in his solo output. “The album ‘Idea’, dealt with the concept of heaven and religion – though not directly or objectively expressed, it was implied,” he says. “On the other hand, ‘Criminal’, in comparison, had a theme of hell. If you look at two things that are at extremes, they’re different from each other but I think they also create something harmonious.”
That ability to create something new out of the space between has become something of a shorthand for Taemin. There’s an inherent duality to the way he can wrangle opposing forces – edgy and soft, masculine and feminine, jolting and fluid – and bend them to his frame. It’s unsurprising that for the first project where he has creative oversight, he decided to try and find his place in the seams of the limitlessness and minutia of the universe.
In ‘Deja Vu’, one of the two album cuts from ‘Eternal’ that Taemin had a hand in writing, he uses the analogy of a figure bouncing between wormholes and being spat out across the timeline of his own life, mashing his past, present and future together. It’s a poignant reference to the moment he finds himself in right now in the wake of the biggest decision of his solo career.
“When I was younger, I was a little confused about which path I wanted to pursue then, now I’m a lot more certain”
“For any person who is safe and stable inside a fence, they’re bound to find themselves lagging in terms of [their own] growth and development,” he says about the choice to move to Big Planet Made, which, founded in 2021, is far more in its infancy than a behemoth like SM Entertainment. “Our youth is finite. Since it’s not infinite, in order to challenge yourself and learn, I realised I needed to step out into the world.”
“Like when you’ve been living with your family and move out once you’re an adult. I think that was the trigger for me [to move to a new company],” he adds. “I mean, I could have just stayed comfortably inside that fence, but I’ve always been the kind of person who takes on challenges.”
In our conversation, it’s clear that Taemin didn’t take the decision to part ways with SM lightly. As someone who has been a K-pop idol for more than half his life, having debuted with SHINee at the age of 14, he has seen the industry shift at a record pace. One aspect of its later-stage evolution is an emergence of established artists taking the creative reins of their careers and moving to labels that will offer more freedom.
Careful to speak on his own experience, Taemin explains the thought process behind his choice to venture out and expand his horizons at this pivotal stage of his career. “I’m sure there are a lot of other celebrities before me who might have made similar choices, but personally that’s not what influenced me much,” he tells NME. “I never compared [myself to others]. I simply wanted to discover and explore my own path.”
“Our youth is finite. Since it’s not infinite, in order to challenge yourself and learn, I realised I needed to step out into the world”
“Among the big companies, there are those that have very distinct characteristics, right? Like YG or SM or JYP. In Korea, these companies already have a distinct style of music or certain image, which is good, but for me, that is something that the artist doesn’t own – it’s the company that is the main agent. It’s like you are becoming an artist who follows the path set by the company,” he says.
“Honestly, if I were to continue doing [the company’s music] for a long time, they set a high value on youth – beauty is extremely important. I’m not saying this in a bad way, but if I think about my future when I’m in my 30s and my 40s, would it be of any importance [to me]? I certainly don’t think so. I realised that I’ll need to pave my own path moving forward. And now is the time when I can try taking on that kind of challenge.”
The first step of that challenge was to immerse himself in the production of ‘Eternal’, putting pen to paper and on tracks with ideas he’s had in his arsenal for years. “Ever since I started my career, I have had music producers making the music for me,” he says. “I think that now is the time to really take control and make [my own] music. I believe that from now on we shouldn’t just perform the music we’re handed, but start taking part in the music production process.”
The sonic range of ‘Eternal’ is as expansive as its atomic muse. Co-lead single ‘Sexy in the Air’ is quintessentially Taemin, dripping in effortless sensuality and verve, while its counterpart, ‘Horizon’, is a propulsive 80s-inspired synthpop banger. His dip into the rap pool with ‘G.O.A.T’ is drenched in attitude, while other album cuts flex the vocal agility which has always been the quiet backbone of his work with SHINee. While he admits there’s some pressure with this album, given the vulnerability of putting his name against the songs, the K-pop star feels the innate sense of self-assuredness that comes with time and experience.
“I recently finished listening to my first mini-album, just recently,” he says, reflecting on his 2014 solo debut record ‘Ace’, which just turned 10. “And I was thinking, ‘My voice sounded like this’, ‘I adjusted the lyrics to that’ and ‘The recording was so tough that I had to record it so many times’. I was reminded of those moments. I never would’ve been able to envision myself [where I am now], to this extent.””
“I think I’ve become a lot more relaxed,” he adds about how his approach to his work has changed. “How do I say this? I’m certainly more set in my mind about what path I need to take. When I was younger, I had just been sincerely working hard at everything, and if you could say I was a little confused about which path I wanted to pursue then, now I’m a lot more certain.”
A sense of relaxation is a luxury in the fast-paced world of K-pop, but as one of the industry’s most boundary-pushing and inimitable icons, Taemin has more than earned the right to settle into a confident sense of ease. But that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down. He’ll next head on a world tour that promises to take him to more places than ever before. “I want to meet the fans there who have been waiting for me, as soon as possible. It feels like it’s high time already and I feel bad about it,” he says bashfully
Naturally, he’s also already thinking about his next album, and how he can be even more creatively involved – celestial ideas pending. “[In my early solo releases], I don’t think I had been able to pursue happiness. Whereas now I think I’m definitely pursuing happiness.”
Taemin’s new mini-album ‘Eternal’ is out now on Spotify, Apple Music and more.
Additional translation provided by Neha Cariappa.