Song Review:: Onew (SHINee): PERCENT- ANIMALS

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  • Release date: 2025 July 15

  • Album tracklist: Silky, Caffeine, Marshmallow, ANIMALS, Confidence, Oreo Cake, Far Away, MAN, PERCENT (%), Epilogue, Happy Birthday

  • Album runtime: 30 minutes

 My man, Onew. I'm so sad that I couldn't make it to his tour while he was here last spring. But that also would have meant I'd be going to LA every single weekend in May, and I don't even live in the state. But it is good to see him happy and healthy and just generally relaxed. He'll be back, and hopefully it won't be in a month when everyone else is going to be having concerts I want to go to. I'll get to the pre-release eventually. 

First thing, his rap section is done a capella. That wasn't what I was expecting, because normally there's an increase of energy with rap sections, so that's a generally interesting point to the song. The song has a really good energy rhythm to it, generally matching, though sometimes it contrasts, which creates an inherent jolt of disruption to expectation. That's when the brain pays attention. There's a subtle bass that keeps the song grounded through the entire song,  

Raise your hand if you were expecting Onew to rap in this song. Just me having no idea? That's fine. I don't know why I'm surprised. I shouldn't be. After finding out the man can tap dance, I shouldn't be surprised to find out that he's just awesome and there's nothing he can't do. He's also got such an incredibly distinct voice with such a good range. And the fact that the song is high enough that he needs to go into his falsetto more than once is actually kind of impressive for the song. Most songs don't manage to be that high.

He just looks so soft and squishy and confused. Onew triggers my cuteness aggression like you wouldn't believe. I'm also loving him post-SM because his music has all been about finding his happiness and unity and the human experience. Plus, he looks like he's just having so much fun. He smiles so much in this music video while he's causing mischief like he's some sort of eldritch being.

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