Advice (EP)

Advice is the third Korean extended play (sixth overall) recorded by South Korean singer Taemin. It was released on May 18, 2021, by SM Entertainment,^[1] produced by Cutfather, PhD, Moonshine and Ryan S. Jhun, among others. The album contains five songs including the lead single, "Advice".

Advice
EP by Taemin
Released	May 18, 2021 (2021-05-18)
Recorded	2021
Studio	Doobdoob (Seoul) SM LVYIN (Seoul) Sound Pool (Seoul)
Genre	R&B Dance-pop
Length	16:51
Language	Korean
Label	SM Dreamus
Producer	Lee Soo-man Cutfather PhD Score (13) Moonshine Ryan S. Jhun Roel Rats Squar (Blur) Wooon (Blur)
Taemin chronology
Never Gonna Dance Again (2020) Advice (2021) Guilty (2023)
Singles from Advice
"Advice" Released: May 18, 2021

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 SM Entertainment announced that Taemin would be releasing a new EP the same month, which will mark his final release before his military enlistment.^[2] The album's title Advice and cover art were revealed simultaneously.^[3] The title track would serve as the lead single of the album. "Advice" was described as an R&B song that employs piano flourishes and a choir arrangement over a trap beat.^[4] "If I Could Tell You" is a collaboration with Girls' Generation member Taeyeon.^[5] It was described as a "dreamy" R&B-pop song featuring electronic piano and soft synthesizer sounds.^[6] "Light" is a dance-pop song produced by Moonshine, featuring groovy beats, synth sounds, and vocal harmonies. "Strings" is an R&B song that is driven by arpeggio guitar riffs, in which Taemin compares himself to a string instrument.^[7] "Sad Kids" is a midtempo pop song in a minimalist arrangement of guitars.^[8]

Release and promotion

Taemin premiered the title track on his solo concert, Never Gonna Dance Again, on May 2.^[6] Image concept teasers were uploaded to Shinee's social media accounts on May 10–13.^[4][5][7][8] On May 18, Taemin held a live event on Naver's V Live app to introduce songs from the album.^[9] Taemin promoted the title track with televised live performances on various South Korean music programs including M Countdown, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo.^[10][11][12]

Reception

Writing for the South China Morning Post, Tamar Herman praised Advice for its "creativity and androgynous aesthetic". She described Taemin as charismatic and versatile.^[13]

Year-end lists

Advice on year-end lists

Critic/Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
PopMatters	Top 20 Best K-pop Albums of 2021	20	[14]

"Advice" on year-end lists

Critic/Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
Dazed	The best K-pop tracks of 2021	22	[15]
Insider	The best K-pop songs of 2021	4	[16]
Marie Claire	The 20 Best New K-Pop Songs of 2021	Placed	[17]
NME	The 25 best K-pop songs of 2021	7	[18]
Paper	The 40 Best K-Pop Songs of 2021	16	[19]
Rolling Stone India	21 Best Korean Music Videos of 2021	2	[20]
Teen Vogue	21 Best K-Pop Music Videos of 2021	Placed	[21]
Teen Vogue	The 54 Best K-Pop Songs of 2021	Placed	[22]
The Ringer	The Best K-pop Songs of 2021	6	[23]
Time	The Best K-Pop Songs and Albums of 2021	Placed	[24]

"Light" on year-end lists

Critic/Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
PhilStar Life	Top 21 K-Pop B-Sides of 2021	12	[25]

Track listing

Advice track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"Advice"	Jo Yoon-kyung	Mich Hansen Daniel Davidsen (PhD) Peter Wallevik (PhD) Lucas Secon Wayne Hector	Cutfather PhD Score (13)	3:11
2.	"Light"	Jeon Gan-di	Jonatan Gusmark (Moonshine) Ludvig Evers(Moonshine) Adrian McKinnon	Moonshine	3:19
3.	"If I Could Tell You" (featuring Taeyeon)	Seo Ji-eum	Peter Wallevik (PhD) Rudy Spiro Josh Wood	PhD	3:17
4.	"Strings"	Hwang Ji-won	Ryan S. Jhun Roel Rats Joelina Drews Vito Kovach Marcia Sondeijker	Ryan S. Jhun Roel Rats	3:40
5.	"Sad Kids"	Luvssong	Ryan S. Jhun Thomas Jones Reuben Gray	Squar (Blur) Wooon (Blur)	3:21
Total length:					16:51

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Advice Chart (2021) Peak position Finnish Physical Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[26] 10 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[27] 12 Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[28] 6 South Korean Albums (Gaon)[29] 2 UK Album Downloads (OCC)[30] 28 US World Albums (Billboard)[31] 14

Monthly charts Monthly chart performance for Advice Chart (2021) Peak position Japanese Albums (Oricon)[32] 35 South Korean Albums (Gaon)[33] 6 Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Advice Chart (2021) Position South Korean Albums (Gaon)[34] 75

Sales

Overall sales for Advice

Region	Sales
South Korea	134,904[35]

Release history

Release history and formats for Advice

Region	Date	Format	Label
South Korea	May 18, 2021	CD	SM Dreamus
Various		Digital download streaming	SM