SHINee Reveals The Meaning Behind “Don’t Call Me” MV And Names Their Favorite Tracks
Shawols can finally shout the words they’ve been dying to say for three years: SHINee‘s back! On February 22, SHINee released Don’t Call Me, their first studio album since 2018, along with a music video for its title track, “Don’t Call Me”.
Onew, Key, Minho, and Taemin connected with Rolling Stone via Zoom to talk about the album, their evolution as a group, favorite songs, and much more. Like some of SHINee’s previous works, “Don’t Call Me” music video has a retro concept but with a futuristic twist.
When asked about the message behind the video, Key said;
We’ve always shot our album covers with a film camera or worn vintage clothing, but the concept for this album was to take really clean and crisp shots in a distorted reality. You’ll see that the background environment and the clothes are all so clean and normal, but the things that are happening are strange, like when there’s a big accident but everyone looks fine.
We wanted to bring this fake reality to life since it has an unexpected twist. Rather than saying the extraterrestrial elements have a meaning behind them, it’s more about the idea of seeming normal when there are strange things happening.
— Key
Taemin described “Don’t Call Me” as a rebirth for SHINee, who receive light from their fans.
To add on, our group name SHINee doesn’t mean we are shiny, but rather that we are “ones who are receiving light.” In the end of the video, we get together and a light shines on us. I think the meaning behind that is that we are getting shone on and SHINee is restarting. Like a rebirth.
–Taemin
The members also chose their favorite songs on the album. Key chose “Code”, saying, “I think it’s trendy and makes you want to dance. I like the bass line as well.”
Onew chose “I Really Want You” because, he said, “I think it has the SHINee vibe.”
For Taemin, “Kiss Kiss” is the top pick. “It has straightforward lyrics that are expressed beautifully,” he said. “The guitar riff is repeated throughout in the chorus and I really like that.”
When Minho chose “Body Rhymth” Taemin joked that it’s because, “he has a really nice body,” but Minho said, “It’s a genre that we’ve never done before and I think the track came out really well.”
Watch the music video here:
