TAEMIN – PHASE 1 : Soft Violence

Taemin Steps Into a New Era with “PHASE 1: Soft Violence”

There’s a particular kind of tension baked into an artist reinventing themselves in public, and Taemin’s sixth Korean EP, PHASE 1: Soft Violence, sits right in the middle of that tension, half comfort, half confrontation.

Taemin’s path to this album hasn’t been simple. After parting ways with SM Entertainment, the agency that shaped him for over a decade, he moved to BPM Entertainment for 2024’s Eternal, only to leave again after reportedly being owed a billion won in unpaid earnings. PHASE 1: Soft Violence marks his first release under his new home, Galaxy Corporation, and arrives during a stretch where he’s also become the first Korean male soloist to perform at Coachella, a milestone that clearly shaped the album’s more international, largely English-language direction.

The eleven tracks lean into contrast rather than consistency, which turns out to be the whole point. “FLOAT” opens things on a gentle, house-inflected note, all synths and weightlessness, while “SKIN” flips the mood entirely with a gritty bassline and Taemin’s voice dropped into a breathy, unsettling whisper about shedding an old self. “Gooey” experiments with talk-singing instead of a traditional chorus, “Frankenstein” swells into a raw, cinematic ballad about losing yourself trying to become someone else’s ideal, and “This Is the End” closes the record on something closer to peace than resolution.

What makes this comeback stand out isn’t a single viral moment, it’s the accumulation of small risks stacked across one project: two title tracks instead of one, alternate “Sweet Violence” and “Bitter Violence” cover concepts, and a rollout built on abstract, almost gallery-like visuals rather than a straightforward music video drop. It reads like an artist testing how far he can stretch without breaking what people already love about him.

MusicPorta says: not every experiment on PHASE 1: Soft Violence lands with equal weight, but the ambition behind it is hard to dismiss. Taemin’s willingness to sit inside discomfort, vocally, sonically, conceptually, is exactly what makes this phase of his career worth following into whatever Phase 2 turns out to be.

MusicPorta Rating: ★★★★★

“PHASE 1: Soft Violence” is an exciting project with captivating energy, impressive performances, and a memorable sound throughout. Make sure you listen to this impressive album and add it to your playlist today.

“PHASE 1: Soft Violence” By “Taemin” BELOW

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