Taemin drops 'PHASE 1 : Soft Violence' EP with double title tracks, announces LiMiNaL world tour

PHASE 1 : Soft Violence dropped August 31. His first EP since ETERNAL in 2024 spans 11 tracks, led by two title cuts that couldn't be more different. FLOAT floats—light, airy, untethered. Gooey sticks to your skin, humid and thick.

Five tracks are new to the album. The intro This Is The End came early. Easy Loving You and SKIN round out the fresh material. The other six? Taemin performed them at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival back in April: Let Me Be The One, Sober, PARASITE among them. He was the first Korean male solo artist to take that stage. A set at British Summer Time Hyde Park in the UK followed. Getting those Coachella performances onto a studio release made the natural next move.

The title itself—"Soft" and "Violence" sitting side by side—frames the whole thing. Galaxy Corporation called the message "beauty is sometimes cruel." The label promised fans would hear "a musical narrative that crosses between contrasting sensations and deepened artistic capabilities." Taemin shaped the music and concept throughout.

Live dates start at Seoul's Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium, September 18–20. That kicks off the 2026-27 TAEMIN WORLD TOUR [LiMiNaL], which swings through 12 cities across North and South America. The tour concept: "change beyond boundaries."

Taemin debuted with SHINee in 2008. Solo work began in 2014 with ACE. Since then: Press It, MOVE, WANT, Criminal, and Guilty. That last one hit number one on music broadcasts.