Song Review:: Taemin (SHINee): PERMISSION

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  • Release date: 2026 May 22
  • Album tracklist: PERMISSION
  • Album runtime: 3 minutes

 So funny story, when I was typing this up, I accidentally called this song “Possession”.

I heard once that Taemin’s songs are religious trauma as a song, and I have to say that the instrumental at the beginning of the song reminds me a lot of that. There’s ghostly wailing in the instrumental, and I love it. There's also kind of a funky, musical vibe to the instrumental, wherein the character is just slinking around the stage, bonus points if it's a villain or a morally grey character. There's a high level of drama inherent here, and while there isn't really a lot of variation technically, the song is very sticky because of the prevalence of the bass guitar.

Kai and Taemin really do circle the same sounds for their songs, don't they? Hashtag, Best Friends Things. This is still very much a Taemin song, don't get me wrong, and while it's settled in that sing-song style during the chorus, we get enough of a break from that with him popping up into higher notes that the song isn't overrun by that sound. And, again, there's a character slinking around on stage saying "Don't need no permission."

No music video (sadness).



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