Shin Hyesung is an idol. But that doesn’t mean that he is just the main vocalist of longest-running idol group Shinhwa. On the day his Vol.3 Side 2 album was released, a fan from Jeonju posted a message on his fansite saying, “Our oppa’s albums are being placed at corners that can’t be seen”. Another fan in Busan posted a similar message, and a fan from Ilsan went to a store and rearranged the albums herself to prevent a similar situation. To them, Shin Hyesung is “our oppa”, and on the day that oppa’s album is released, the albums have to be bought the moment the stores open. Here, we see once again the communication between Shin Hyesung, as an idol who made his debut in the late 90s, and his fans. Even if 11 years have passed, the communication method stays the same because the target of their communication is still present.
The motivation from the 11 years of attention
The motivation from the 11 years of attention
As the main vocalist of the longest-running idol group, and a solo singer, Shin Hyesung has always been an idol.
In the age of a declining music industry, Shin Hyesung’s reason for releasing a regular album with 10 songs is simple. Because he knows the happiness of “buying an album from my favourite singer on the day of the launch, no matter what the title track is, I’ll listen to all the 10+ songs that are on it”. But this isn’t the only reason for releasing his 3rd album in these poor economic conditions, and with two parts to it. To him, there are fans like himself who enjoy listening to albums, and who grew up enjoying the listening experience. Of course Shinhwa fans continue to like the other members as always. If anything has changed, at least Shin Hyesung and his fans haven’t. But it’s not just because things haven’t changed that makes it significant, it’s the fact that he has created music that commands such attention.
The interesting thing about Shin Hyesung’s new album ‘Keep Leaves’ is, after the period of being a manufactured idol, he has showed that he has found his musical direction as a ballad singer with substance and his experiments in music. Although in his title track, ‘Why Did You Call’, his voice leaves a deep impression when he hits the high notes, but what’s even more significant is how his voice blends in with the arrangement of the keyboard, the acoustic guitar and the strings, and at the same time conveying the emotions of the song clearly. He could achieve this by virtue of the experimentations he had done in Side 1. In that album, there was ‘Awaken’ with its memorable guitar intro, reminiscent of the Euro-metal style. It was a worthwhile attempt, but his voice was masked by the heavy metal guitar riffs and the melody was not able to come through. The process of overcoming these difficulties, together with the 8 final mixes he did for the title track ‘Because of You’ with different instruments and vocal styles, gave him the opportunity to focus on analysing his own voice, and paying more attention to his voice. That’s how he completed an album with lots of satisfaction, completely different from his first two solo albums, which were geared towards the gentle end of the vocal spectrum. Shin Hyesung wanted to know about what the fans thought about him veering off the path that his first two albums have set. “Because everyone is familiar with the path I’ve taken up until now, so what are their responses towards these changes?” Not leaving this out, the fans had this to say, “It’s great, because it seems like these kind of challenges will help him in making music in future.”
The leaves on Shin Hyesung’s most ambiguous pages
In the age of a declining music industry, Shin Hyesung’s reason for releasing a regular album with 10 songs is simple. Because he knows the happiness of “buying an album from my favourite singer on the day of the launch, no matter what the title track is, I’ll listen to all the 10+ songs that are on it”. But this isn’t the only reason for releasing his 3rd album in these poor economic conditions, and with two parts to it. To him, there are fans like himself who enjoy listening to albums, and who grew up enjoying the listening experience. Of course Shinhwa fans continue to like the other members as always. If anything has changed, at least Shin Hyesung and his fans haven’t. But it’s not just because things haven’t changed that makes it significant, it’s the fact that he has created music that commands such attention.
The interesting thing about Shin Hyesung’s new album ‘Keep Leaves’ is, after the period of being a manufactured idol, he has showed that he has found his musical direction as a ballad singer with substance and his experiments in music. Although in his title track, ‘Why Did You Call’, his voice leaves a deep impression when he hits the high notes, but what’s even more significant is how his voice blends in with the arrangement of the keyboard, the acoustic guitar and the strings, and at the same time conveying the emotions of the song clearly. He could achieve this by virtue of the experimentations he had done in Side 1. In that album, there was ‘Awaken’ with its memorable guitar intro, reminiscent of the Euro-metal style. It was a worthwhile attempt, but his voice was masked by the heavy metal guitar riffs and the melody was not able to come through. The process of overcoming these difficulties, together with the 8 final mixes he did for the title track ‘Because of You’ with different instruments and vocal styles, gave him the opportunity to focus on analysing his own voice, and paying more attention to his voice. That’s how he completed an album with lots of satisfaction, completely different from his first two solo albums, which were geared towards the gentle end of the vocal spectrum. Shin Hyesung wanted to know about what the fans thought about him veering off the path that his first two albums have set. “Because everyone is familiar with the path I’ve taken up until now, so what are their responses towards these changes?” Not leaving this out, the fans had this to say, “It’s great, because it seems like these kind of challenges will help him in making music in future.”
The leaves on Shin Hyesung’s most ambiguous pages
但是之后申彗星做出的作品更重要，因为对于以“像李承哲、申胜勋、李承焕前辈那样得到大众信任”为长远目标的他来说，这次的专辑是一张“可以被记成是下张专辑更好的转折点”的专辑。所以他现在站着的支点就像在chapter和chapter之间最模糊的网页上插入的树叶（keep leaves）一样。乘着音乐上的发展和fans扩大的顺风，向迄今已经确定下的前页延伸而去的树叶，可以在以后的哪一页着落？能明确的是，并不仅仅只有和我们的oppa一起走来的fans期待答案。
So, while Shin Hyesung is an idol, he is also a singer who goes beyond idol fandom and fully interacts with the general masses. With the support of the fans who have kept their spending power and their belief in oppa’s music, he has continued to release albums while keeping up with changes and developments in music. He reflects his growth in his subsequent projects, and at the same time increase the quality of his music. Although he remains active on the basis of idol fandom, but because of that he is able to appeal to general ballad fans too. Unlike Junjin and Eric who have moved on to variety and dramas, while maintaining his ‘oppa’ status, he has grown from an idol “who had music ambitions even during group activities” to singer and musician. But the future works of Shin Hyesung will be even more important. With a long-term goal of “being like Lee Seung Chul, Shin Seung Hun and Lee Seung Hwan who receives much trust from the public”, this album is the turning point where “the next album will be even better”. Where he is standing is just like the leaves sandwiched between ambiguous chapters. Riding on his expanding fanbase and music development, the leaves which are moving steadily towards the front page, where will they fall in future? What is definite though, is that it’s not just the fans who have come this far with oppa who want to know.
Source: 10asia
Chi trans: jojoyu7@shinhwachina
Eng trans: midnightgirl13@absolutshinhwa.wordpress.com
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