TAEMIN, the absolute king is back with the new album ‘Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 2’. We’ve been waiting for this one because ‘Act 1’ was absolutely fantastic.
Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 2
We open with the title track ‘IDEA’. This track is total fire and I’m in love with the very EDM driven instrumentation. The bridge with the repetition of ‘idea’ was freaking amazing. Also the little ‘killing me softly’, sung by BoA is going to be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
‘Heaven’ is next and is a lot softer. Taemin’s breathy vocals in the chorus are excellent. He co-wrote this one and we stan TALENT y’all. The spacious instrumentation totally fits the concept and I dig it.
We follow that up with ‘Impressionable’. The concept for this song in the album description is a spider chasing its prey in its spider web. This track is 10/10. The instrumentation adds to the spooky vibe especially with the samples they added. The repetitive hook with the autotuned voice is freaking cool without getting too much.
Next up is the only feature on the album. ‘Be Your Enemy’ featuring Wendy is a soft pop song with a beautiful guitar line. Their vocals blend so well, I can’t believe they haven’t collabed before. Also, it’s really nice to see/hear Wendy again.
Next up
‘Think Of You’ is the fifth track and starts off pretty funky from the get-go. Taemin wrote the lyrics for this song. ‘Think Of You’ has really fun instrumentals. The sample they use for the ‘ah’ reminds me of a song I used to be obsessed with from the late 90s, early 2000s. It’s awesome.
‘Exclusive’ was originally a Japanese single on his EP ‘FAMOUS’ from 2019. It’s still a bop and it’s really cool to hear this one in Korean as well. The song makes me feel expensive.
‘Pansy’ follows that with country vibes y’all. To be honest, I never thought about that combo, but surprisingly it works. Guess, I’ll order some cowboy boots online. Taemin’s vocals are 100% and I dig the sweet, emotional cowboy vibes.
Track number eight is ‘I Think It’s Love’ and I’m finally getting my proper ballad. The strings and sparse piano line is everything. This is beautiful.
We close the album with ‘Identity’. The very spacious and dramatic feeling of the instrumentals are kinda crazy. The little synth they used felt a bit weird, but after a second listen I was in. Taemin fills the space with his vocals so well. The man’s belting is fantastic.
Overall
‘Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 2’ by TAEMIN is fantastic. We’ve been very lucky with the frankly amazing songs he’s released this year.
Go ahead and listen to the album on Spotify here.
