PHASE 1 : Soft Violence

The record

PHASE 1 : Soft Violence is Taemin’s mini album, released at 6 pm on 31 August 2026 with eleven tracks and two title tracks, ‘FLOAT’ and ‘Gooey’. It is his first mini album since ETERNAL, two years earlier.

The album introduction by Galaxy Corporation, carried on Bugs, says the record’s name joins two words of opposite sense, ‘Soft’ and ‘Violence’, and that ‘This Is The End’ was released ahead of the record. The single PERMISSION, out on 22 May, is carried on the CD. The ‘FLOAT’ music video went up on Taemin’s official channel on the day of release.

Reviews

The Kraze’s Antonia Patterson, writing on 2 September 2026, read the record as work between the two poles its name announces. She reported that Taemin describes it as “cruelty within beauty”, and wrote: “Sometimes, he’s teetering toward a softer, lovelier melody; other times, he’s embracing a harder, darker sound.”

Of the first title track she wrote: “‘FLOAT’ serves as the introduction on the EP, gently guiding the listener into TAEMIN’s world of etherealism. It is a delicate opener that describes how lighthearted love can be.” Of the second: “The EP immediately shifts into a more aggressive state with ‘Gooey,’ a punchy synth track to establish the violence aspect.” The same piece adds that “TAEMIN wastes no time in unveiling the opposing themes of the EP and the ways that they work together”.

On the record as a whole she wrote: “PHASE 1: Soft Violence covers a range of genres, including old-school R&B and poignant ballads.”

Among the tracks

The Kraze set out how the later tracks carry the story: “TAEMIN tells a bold story throughout the EP with messages of conformity in ‘Frankenstein’ to the loss of control in ‘Parasite.’” Of the closing song the piece wrote: “Even ‘This Is The End’ feels like an incomplete closure with its abrupt ending, but it effectively tells the listener that TAEMIN’s story is far from being over.”

Sports Khan (스포츠경향) listed the writers and producers when the tracklist was published on 19 August 2026. ‘FLOAT’ was made with SOFTSERVEBOY, Drew Love of the American R&B duo THEY. and Bava; ‘Gooey’ is a hip-hop pop song Taemin co-wrote with BUMZU, jonjon, Ninos Hanna and WILJAM. The same report says ‘Let Me Be The One’ is a new jack swing song made with Kuk Harrell, and that ‘1004’ is a pop track Taemin took part in writing and composing, with Josh Cumbee among those who worked on it.

What happened

Six of the eleven songs reached a stage four months before the record did. Sports Khan reported that Taemin played a roughly fifty-minute set of his own on Coachella’s Mojave Stage on 11 April 2026 and gave six new songs their first outing there: ‘Permission’, ‘PARASITE’, ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Let Me Be The One’, ‘Sober’ and ‘1004’. The same outlet wrote that this was the first time a Korean male solo singer had been on the official Coachella line-up with a stage of his own.

Sports Khan also reported that Taemin would hold concerts of his own at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul from 18 to 20 September 2026 and open his 2026-27 world tour, ‘LiMiNaL’.