Going with the 'Flow': SHINee's Onew embraces life's changes in new solo album

“Flow” is a six-track album with the aim of showing “the flow” of Onew — the changes he’s gone through, the challenges he’s taken and the person he’s become — according to the singer.

Singer of Onew of boy band SHINee [GRIFFIN ENTERTAINMENT]

A member of one of K-pop’s biggest boy bands SHINee and a successful soloist on his own, Onew had an epiphany at the age of 33 last year. He wanted to record the very flow of his life as both the artist and the person Lee Jin-ki, leading to the creation of his aptly named, newest album, “Flow.”

“I realized that I didn’t even know how to book a train ticket by myself,” he told reporters with a humble and candid smile, thinking back to last year, when he decided to go on a trip to clear his mind.

“Whenever I went somewhere, I had the agency do it for me,” he continued.

“I found out for the first time that I needed an app to do all the stuff, like getting a ticket or booking accommodation. I even ended up just waiting six hours at a train station because I had no backup plan. It shocked me that everyone already knew all this stuff, but it gave me the chance to realize that failure isn’t actually all that bad.”

“Flow” is a six-track album with the aim of showing “the flow” of Onew — the changes he’s gone through, the challenges he’s taken and the person he’s become — according to the singer.

Singer of Onew of boy band SHINee [GRIFFIN ENTERTAINMENT]

Singer of Onew of boy band SHINee [GRIFFIN ENTERTAINMENT]

Having started his career in 2008 as the leader of SHINee, one of the most popular boy bands to date, Onew left SM Entertainment, his agency of 16 years, and signed with Griffin Entertainment in April this year.

“Flow” comes as the singer’s first new project with his new agency and the first after his yearlong break that started in June last year due to health issues, which neither Onew or his then-agency SM Entertainment elaborated on.

“I took the time to look back on myself and one of the things that I thought about the most was, ‘What can I do now?’ especially because I was taking time off from being too physically tired,” he said.

“And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that if there was one thing that I could always count on, it was my singing. It’s the thing I love the most and the thing I know I can do well. And I also go to other artists’ concerts and listen to their music when I want to be comforted, which made me even more sure that music was what I needed.”

Singer of Onew of boy band SHINee [GRIFFIN ENTERTAINMENT]

And so came “Flow,” a six-track album through which Onew returned to his love of music, but with a new style he hadn't tried before. All of the songs are a far cry from the calm, serenading ballads he has been known for in the past — signified by the upbeat synth pop lead track “beat drum.”

“I really wanted to try something that would make people think that Onew is always trying something new,” he said. “There were a lot of things that SM Entertainment allowed me to do but there was also this sense of ‘Onew-like things’ that I would be given. That’s why with this album, I had a go at drumming, rapping and all the things that I had never tried before.”

“Flow” comes a year and a half after the artist's first full-length album, “Circle,” was released as the last piece of work with SM Entertainment, one of the biggest K-pop companies in Korea. His decision to leave the agency came after realizing that the longer he stayed at the established organization, the less he’d have the chance to develop on his own.

“I did get to voice my opinions at SM Entertainment, but I didn’t get to try producing an album from start to finish,” he said. “I wanted to make something with more of ‘me’ and my ambitions in it.”

Singer of Onew of boy band SHINee [GRIFFIN ENTERTAINMENT]

Another emphasis with “Flow” was to make the songs enjoyable for the audience, especially at festivals.

“There’s a song called ‘Focus’ on the album,” Onew said. “It doesn’t exactly bring people to tears, but it’s one of the songs that I think will really be good at a festival.”

“I love every detail of the day when I go to someone’s concert,” he continued. “I love the smell of the morning, the sound of the streets and the happy mood that I wake up to just knowing that I’m going to a concert or an exhibition by an artist that I like. And that’s exactly the kind of happiness that I want to give the people that pay to come to my concerts.”

Onew is known not only as the SHINee leader but also for his uniquely boyish yet mature voice — one that has given a special touch to the boy band’s songs and also his solo tracks, including “Always” (2023) and “Starry Night” (2016).

Singer of Onew of boy band SHINee [GRIFFIN ENTERTAINMENT]

Despite his success, it was Onew's very voice that gave him the hardest time during his career, according to the singer.

“I do think now that my voice is my strength. But because my voice was so different, I couldn’t copy or do impressions of anyone else, and it felt, well, traumatic,” he said. “I doubted myself and kept asking myself whether I was a bad singer who had a bad voice. But it turns out that having no one else who can copy you is a huge privilege.”

Starting his journey at Griffin Entertainment with a more hands-on approach to the album process, Onew is determined to keep on getting more involved in making his music in the future. He’s learning to play the guitar and some day, he may be standing on the stage singing and playing the guitar at the same time.

“But that’s a 10-year plan, though,” he said with a laugh. “The important thing is that I’m doing everything that I can to try new things. I can’t say that I will completely transform myself, but I hope that people join me on my adventure to find myself as well as give joy to other people.”

Singer of Onew of boy band SHINee [GRIFFIN ENTERTAINMENT]

Onew will hold solo concerts in Seoul on Oct. 5 and 6 and in Yokohama, Japan, on Nov. 21 and 22.

“I keep saying that I want to give happiness because I think it’s such an easy and difficult thing to do at the same time,” he said. “That’s why I feel so fulfilled when someone tells me they felt consoled by my music. I hope that’s the kind of good influence I have on the world. I’ll always try to find the balance between what I want to do, what I can do and what people want from me. I think that’s the best way I can pay back the love from people.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]