1 of 1 (album)

On September 4, 2016, Shinee held their fifth solo concert titled Shinee World V in Seoul. Four of the 34 songs that were performed were songs from the group's new album: "Prism", "Feel Good", "Don't Let Me Go" and "So Amazing".[1][2] The album was originally intended to be released in the middle of September but member Onew got injured while performing on stage during the group's concert and the album release was delayed.[3] On September 27, 2016, the group's management agency S.M. Entertainment announced that the new album titled "1 of 1" would be released on October 5, 2016, and introduced a new Instagram account created for the group activities.[4] It is the group's first domestic studio album in over a year, after the release of Odd on May 18, 2015.[5]

The track listing of the album was released on September 28, 2016, and includes nine tracks.[6] Additionally, to align with their '90s theme, the group is also releasing a limited edition of cassette tapes besides the usual CD version.[7] Originally only one thousand copies were produced for sale but due to high demand more copies were put into production.[8] S.M. Entertainment printed a limited 50,000 copies of the album in cassette format.[9] From September 28 till October 2, 2016, the group released several teasers through the group's Instagram account. Each member of the group introduced one song of their choice in a segment called "Shinee's Pick - What do you think of this song?" in a promotional radio notice inspired by the 90s along with each photo, which are previews of songs from the new album.[4][10][11][12][13] On October 1, the group performed two new songs of the album, "Prism" and "Feel Good" for the first time in public at the Spectrum Dance Music Festival.[13][14] On October 4, Shinee performed the title track "1 of 1" publicly on stage during their showcase for the album at the SM TOWN COEX Artium. The music video was revealed during the same event—Onew is not seen during the dance sequences because he was unable to participate due to his injury, but confirmed he is receiving treatment and is almost completely recovered.[15][16] On October 6, the group began their promotions for the title song "1 of 1" on music shows, starting with Mnet's M! Countdown[17] and followed by SBS's Inkigayo,[18] KBS2's Music Bank[19] and MBC's Show! Music Core.[20][21] As part of the promotion, the group members also guested on several variety shows including Happy Together 3,[22] Weekly Idol,[23] Knowing Bros[24] and KBS World's Guerilla Date.[25]

On November 15, 2016 Shinee released a repackaged version of their fifth studio album under the title 1 and 1 with 5 new songs in addition to the songs from their fifth studio album 1 of 1, including the title track "Tell Me What to Do".[26] The album includes two CDs, one consisting of only the new songs and its instrumentals and a second one with the songs from 1 of 1.[27]

Both the fashion style and the music are inspired by the '90s. The album's concept hails back to "any period from the late 1970s to 1990s," according to member Jonghyun. The co-composer of the title track, Mike Daley, explained the producers tried to balance the retro with a modern feel.[17] The album contains nine tracks including the title song "1 of 1", which is described as a song in the '90s new jack swing genre—a type of hip-hop infused with urban dance-pop and is composed by Mike Daley, Mitchell Owens, Michael Jiminez, Tay Jasper and MZMC.[17] The lyrics of the song tell a story about a man who is confessing to his girlfriend telling her she is the only love of his life.[28][29] Daley, Owens and Jiminez, the songwriter trio of "1 of 1", focused on writing a retro song with a modern feel. Daley emphasized that he did not want the new song to be caught in the frame of an old fake song and tried to keep the balance between the retro style and modern sound by giving it a strong drum beat to lead the track.[30]

Many known producers contributed to the album like Kenzie, British electronic songwriting duo LDN Noise, and Swedish songwriter Andreas Öberg. Most of the songs were created in April 2016 at a songwriting camp hosted by S.M. Entertainment.[17] Jonghyun took part in composing the song "Prism", a two-step pop number featuring piano and synthesizer chords.[1] For the song "Don't Let Me Go" Key and Minho participated in the rap making.[12][17] "So Amazing", another mix of new jack swing and mid-tempo retro pop is written by member Onew, which compares Shinee's happy moments of meeting its fans in concerts to a happy drive along the coast with a lover.[5][30] British duo LDN Noise, who wrote Shinee's previous songs like "View" and "Married to the Music", participated in producing the seventh track "Shift". It is said to have the unique sound of '80s pop music, adopting both House and UK garage genres by mixing synthesizer and deep bass sounds.[5]

The title track "Tell Me What to Do" of the repackaged album 1 and 1, is described as a medium-tempo "emotional R&B" track with "trendy electronic music" elements. The lyrics tell a story about a couple that attempts to spark their fading relationship.[26][31] Yoo Young-jin, Kenzie, The Underdogs and Kim Eana participated in making Shinee's repackaged album. Onew, once again, took part in the songwriting process of the album penning the lyrics to the song "Beautiful Life".[32] For the repackaged album, the group emphasizes the vocals of its five members and take a ballad approach.[33]

Lee Mi-hyun of JoongAng Daily stated the most noteworthy feature of this Shinee's repackage album, 1 and 1, was to pick "Tell Me What to Do" as their title song, stating it is an unfamiliar sound for a ballad but becomes an interesting song choice because it's enough to show the growth of Shinee's musicality, emphasized the group's "singing power is something, which needs to be carefully talked about".[45] Sung Mi-kyung of OSEN likewise stated that Shinee have proved a broader musical spectrum through ballads with "outstanding its sensitivity".[46]

Jeff Benjamin of Fuse compliments the group's vocals in "Tell Me What to Do", one of five new tracks on the 1 of 1 repackaged album, particularly the chorus with Jonghyun delivering "chill-inducing belts", but he adds it's done in a way that one can easily sing along with and states that despite being released late into the year, the blend of melancholy and hope is helping the song to make a "last-minute run to be named one of the best K-pop singles of 2016".[47] Tamar Herman of Billboard also praises the strong vocal performances from the members, particularly Onew and Taemin's sonorous belts, that makes "Tell Me What to Do" the group's "most emotive single of the past few years".[48]