''Advice'' is the third Korean

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(sixth overall) recorded by South Korean singer

Taemin Lee Tae-min (; born July 18, 1993), better known mononymously as Taemin, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor. He debuted as a member of the South Korean boy band Shinee in May 2008 and the supergroup SuperM in 2019, both un ...

. It was released on May 18, 2021, by

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...

, produced by Cutfather,

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, Moonshine and Ryan S. Jhun, among others. The album contains five songs including the lead single, "Advice".

Background and composition

Taemin released his third studio album '' Never Gonna Dance Again: Act 2'' in November 2020. On May 3, 2021, the singer's label

announced that Taemin would be releasing a new EP the same month, which will mark his final release before his military enlistment. The album's title ''Advice'' and cover art were revealed simultaneously. The title track would serve as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

of the album. "Advice" was described as an R&B song that employs

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

flourishes and a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

arrangement over a trap beat. "If I Could Tell You" is a collaboration with

Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piec ...

member

Taeyeon Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one ...

. It was described as a "dreamy" R&B-

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song featuring electronic piano and soft

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

sounds. "Light" is a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

song produced by Moonshine, featuring groovy beats, synth sounds, and vocal harmonies. "Strings" is an R&B song that is driven by

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

guitar riffs, in which Taemin compares himself to a string instrument. "Sad Kids" is a

midtempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given composition, and is often also an indication of the composition's character or atmos ...

pop song in a minimalist arrangement of guitars.

Release and promotion

Taemin premiered the title track on his solo concert, Never Gonna Dance Again, on May 2. Image concept teasers were uploaded to

Shinee Shinee ( ; ; ; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group consists of four members: Onew, Key (entertainer), Key, Choi Min-ho, Minho, and Taemin. Originally a five-piece band, Jonghyun died on ...

's social media accounts on May 10–13. On May 18, Taemin held a live event on

Naver Naver (; stylized as NAVER) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. The company's products include a search engine, email hosting, blogs, maps, and mobile payment. History Naver was the first Korean web provide ...

V Live V Live (stylized as VLIVE), sometimes referred to as V App, was a South Korean live video streaming service that allowed celebrities based in the country to broadcast live videos such as live chat sessions with fans, performances, reality show ...

app to introduce songs from the album. Taemin promoted the title track with televised live performances on various South Korean music programs including ''

M Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leeteuk ...

'', ''

Show! Music Core ''Show! Music Core'' (), or simply ''Music Core'' is a South Korean music television program broadcast by MBC. It airs live every Saturday at 15:30 (KST). The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. I ...

'' and ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' (; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform on stage. ...

''.

Reception

Writing for the ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

'', Tamar Herman praised ''Advice'' for its "creativity and androgynous aesthetic". She described Taemin as charismatic and versatile.

Year-end lists

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Sales

Release history

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" , + Release history and formats for ''Advice'' ! Region ! Date ! Format ! Label , - ! scope="row", South Korea , rowspan="2", May 18, 2021 , {{hlist, CD , {{hlist, SM,

Dreamus Dreamus is an electronics and entertainment company founded in 1999 originally as ReignCom. Currently headquartered in South Korea (and formerly in the United States), it is the parent company of South Korean-based iRiver, Astell & Kern and FL ...

, - ! scope="row", Various , {{hlist, Digital download,

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

, SM

References

{{reflist

External links

Taemin's official page

"Advice" music video
{{Lee Tae-min {{Authority control 2021 EPs Korean-language EPs 2020s Korean-language albums Taemin EPs SM Entertainment EPs