“Call Me Poet Artist”: SHINee is Back as Five for 17th Anniversary

Photos: SM Entertainment

The five members of SHINee reunite in 17th anniversary single with lyrics written by and featuring the vocals of late member Jonghyun.

There can only be one way to describe May 25, 2025: the ubiquitous catchphrase “SHINee is back!” Returning with two-track release Poet | Artist, SHINee celebrates their 17th anniversary as five members with what is their most profound, heartwarming release yet. “Poet | Artist,” titled after late member Jonghyun’s posthumous 2017 album Poet | Artist, is not only a tribute song to Jonghyun’s poetry and artistry, both as a soloist and as the lead composer and main vocalist of SHINee: it’s one with lyrics fully written by his own hand. The track also features Jonghyun’s improvisational jazz vocals off the demo version of “Poet | Artist.” With deliberate referential musical choices in each of the members’ tonality to Jonghyun’s characteristic tone and funk-driven percussive vocals, it’s the perfect choice to celebrate the group’s 17th anniversary. Poet | Artist marks a cornerstone of the group’s shining career.

Performing the single live at their SHINee World VII E.S.S.A.Y. (Every Stage Shines Around You) concert, the members return with strength, and with heart. Not only is the occasion special given the group’s 17th anniversary, it also marks almost two years since their last return with HARD. Even as the members continue in solo endeavors, world tours, and across various entertainment agencies, Poet | Artist is a promise and an answer to the group’s two-year gap between releases: SHINee will continue as five, forever.

“Poet | Artist” is an electro-funk forward track, both in the style of Jonghyun’s solo work and SHINee’s discography. The vocals are layered and bright, dappled with percussive snaps and clever harmonizations that keep you on your toes. The song is utterly SHINee, but with the DNA of a Jonghyun solo, with member Taemin stating during the anniversary concert that he aimed to “try to sing as close a tone as possible to the way he [Jonghyun] recorded in the demo.” 

SHINee in Poet | Artist teaser photos

Fans of SHINee are familiar with the group’s ongoing, tongue-in-cheek efforts to jokingly “plagiarize” each other with Jonghyun’s 2015 solo debut BASE riffing off of Taemin’s prior 2014 ACE. Key’s 2018 solo debut with FACE, Onew’s 2018 debut with VOICE, and Minho’s 2022 debut with CHASE were next to follow and conclude the series, or so we thought. Now, with Poet | Artist, SHINee continues their affectionate plagiaristic tendencies, with the track sharing the title of Jonghyun’s 2018 Poet | Artist. It’s an inside joke, and a heartfelt one, sharing a giggle across over a decade of music and lyricism. In this way, 2025’s Poet | Artist as much tribute as it is timeless, with a funk-driven freshness that makes it hard to believe it was written in the mid 2010s. Poetic artistry indeed. “Call me poet artist,” the lyrics say, “Poetic license granted by your beauty.” 

Accompanying B-side “Starlight” is a disco-driven synth pop track that is a shining pairing to titular “Poet | Artist.” It’s SHINee through and through, with the same laid brightness flair of perhaps “Excuse Me Miss” or “Kiss Kiss,” and the shining, starlight motifs that form SHINee’s group identity, lightstick design, color, and then some. The song sings of meeting one under the starlight: “You’re the paradise I’ve searched for.” A fitting companion to “Poet | Artist,” “Starlight” is a bite-sized SHINee track that is as delicious as it is parallel to the group's 17 years of funk, electro-pop, and vocal harmonies. 

After 16 years of anniversary celebrations, SHINee truly makes their 17th shine in Poet | Artist. Featuring all five members, Jonghyun’s life, legacy, poetry, and artistry comes to the forefront once again a decade after Jonghyun’s solo debut and 17 years after SHINee first burst onto the scene as the youthful, bright-eyed princes of K-Pop.

To honor Jonghyun’s work, legacy, and artistry, his family founded the Shiny Foundation 2018 to uplift, provide financial assistance and support for struggling young artists and musicians, mainly of high-school age. Their work continues in the community today. Those interested can find more information here.

Edited by Bryn Claybourne