Korean R&B just got quirkier and a lot more fun in SHINee’s new mini-album,
Year of Us.

It was the first time I heard ‘Ring Ding Dong,’ the comeback single of multi-awarded South Korean pop boy band SHINee after their 5-month hiatus. There’s no fighting the catchy pop hooks that borders on annoying novelty pop - like a Britney Spears dance track, manga-fied with a chorus that goes ‘Ring-ding-dong-ring-ding-dong-diggah-ding-diggah-ding-diggah-ring.’ A ringtone turned into a pop song, if there ever was one. Still, with its sci-fic electronica and manic dance break beats, I shifted from mildly annoyed with to secretly loving the song. I just wasn’t sure if I could listen to an album that was all onomatopoeia.

As it turns out, Year of Us is a wonderful surprise of style mash-ups and straight-up dance electronica. It’s their most fun album yet, and also their most vocally mature. Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, and Taemin, collectively known as SHINee, burst into the Kpop scene in May 2008. Since then, they’ve not only conquered the charts, but have also received numerous citations from MNet, Golden Disk, and Seoul Music Awards. Their trademark high-cut sneakers, skinny jeans, and colorful sweaters have also started the ‘SHINee trend,’ a look quite popular among students. The group also contributed the sprightly track ‘Stand by Me’ to the Korean drama adaptation of the popular manga Boys Over Flowers, which furthered their popularity across Asia.

Year of Us takes SHINee’s brand of breezy pop to a more complex combination of R&B and techno. Album opener ‘Y.O.U.’ is the best the group has ever sounded. Opening with bare, listless synthesized drums and an echoing electric guitar, the sonicscape is at once brooding and obsessive. The boys harmonizing and confessing their love in the chorus creates an interesting tension; a pop hook unexpectedly surfacing from the Massive Attack-ish reverie. It’s simply unlike anything playing on the radio, so props to SM Entertainment and the group for taking a chance with a bizarrely wonderful track. ‘Ring Ding Dong’ abruptly changes the pace, preparing us for the mirrorball bliss of ‘Jojo’ where retro disco meets reckless clubbing.

Year of Us may show a kaleidoscope of genres but SHINee’s strong vocals and vigorous attack bind the tracks together. There is also a palpable suppleness to the production of the album. More than the technical perfection, it is the organic joy of dancing that takes over. Sure, SHINee is a manufactured pop boy band, but the combined personality of the members provide more than enough muscle to elevate these pop tunes to celebratory anthems of love.

- Thor Balanon

Link: http://shinee.smtown.com/