The Misconceptions of Us

The Misconceptions of Us is the third studio album released by South Korean boy band Shinee. It consists of two parts, Dream Girl – The Misconceptions of You and the second Why So Serious? – The Misconceptions of Me, that were later collected together as The Misconceptions of Us under SM Entertainment and distributed by KT Music.

On February 7, SM Entertainment announced that Shinee would release their third studio album later that month, with "Dream Girl" as the lead single. Shortly after, the group held the event "Melon Premiere Shinee Music Spoiler" where they revealed songs from the album to 100 music reviewers. The album was confirmed to be split into two "chapters", Dream Girl – The Misconceptions of You and Why So Serious? – The Misconceptions of Me, both within the framework of "misconceptions".

Two of the directors for the album also made an appearance to give a basic explanation about the concepts and meanings behind the project. Director Lee Sung-soo from SM Entertainment's production department shared information about the songs and their meanings, while director Min Hee-jin from the visual and art directing department introduced Shinee's visual concept. Furthermore, the choreography for the lead single "Dream Girl" was revealed, which was choreographed by Tony Testa, who previously worked with Shinee on "Sherlock (Clue + Note)". The making of the music video was also shown which showed the members jumping on trampolines and using running machines. Member Onew stated on the making of the two albums, "It's our first full album that we're releasing in a while, so we worked really hard. Minho and Key worked on the rapping, Jonghyun worked on the lyrics, and Taemin worked on the choreography." Taemin described the album as one where each member's individuality shines through their voices, "We know each other best so a lot of our opinions went into this album." Jonghyun added, "Taemin's delivery of the lyrics is good. Minho's falsetto is really nice these days. Key is good at English. We know each other's strengths so we split the parts up according to who can shine on what. We had fun working on the album."

Dream Girl – The Misconceptions of You can be interpreted as the dreams, ideals, and visions of the world through Shinee's eyes. In contrast, Why So Serious? – The Misconceptions of Me was described as evoking the gap between Shinee's reality and dreams and has an overall deeper and darker sound. Jonghyun stated, "Why So Serious – The Misconceptions of Me will show our worldview. It will have a deep and rough sound. It embodies our group's unique personality and musical sensation". Lee Sung-soo compared the split album format to Shinee's previous release, Sherlock, stating that instead of mixing two songs together, as they had done with "Sherlock (Clue + Note)", they had combined two albums with different concepts into one. Lee also said that there are hidden keywords that connect the songs in the two albums and, "We included a fun point where you can search for keywords and put them together to create several interpretations."

The album's opening track, "Spoiler", contains the titles of songs included in both albums, connecting the two parts. As the song's title suggests, it provides a spoiler for what is to come. "Dream Girl" was produced by Hyuk Shin and his team of composers, Joombas Music Factory. They described the song as "an acid electro funk song". It is written by Jun Gandi and composed by Hyuk Shin, Jordan Kyle, Ross Lara, Dave Cook, DK, and Anthony "TC" Crawford. The song has a fuller sound, featuring electric guitars among various other synths and the beat is very diverse and complex with a lot of tempo changes. The song is described as the most "Shinee-like song" in the album and tells about how the five boys meet their dream girl that only appears in their dreams, and disappears in reality. "Hitchhiking" is about a journey through time and space in pursuit of love. "Punch Drunk Love" compares falling in love to losing consciousness after being hit by a punch. "Girls Girls Girls" resembles a song from a musical, while "Aside" tells a story of unrequited love. "Beautiful" features a catchy hook, evoking a "bright" and "cheerful" atmosphere. "Dynamite" is about melting the cold heart of a lover with love that is hot like dynamite. "Runaway" expresses excitement about making a new start.

"Why So Serious?" is a funk rock dance track that was chosen as the title track and lead single from the album. The song was written and produced by Kenzie and composed by Kim Cheong-bae, Andrew Choi and Kenzie. It is a genre that combines the powerful and catchy melody of pop with electronica sounds. It talks wittily about a zombie that has lived in darkness for a very long time who falls in love with a human girl. "Shine (Medusa I)" is a powerful dance track that "combines high quality lyrics that express the love of fans as a 'shine' together with tough drum sounds to add enjoyment to listeners". Teddy Riley, Andrew Choi and Kim Tae-seong composed the song, with lyrics penned by Misfit and Minho. "Sleepless Night" is a ballad song accompanied by bittersweet tunes of piano. The song was produced by a Canadian songwriter, Matthew Tishler, in his debut collaboration with Shinee, and Im Kwang-ok. Shim Changmin of TVXQ penned the lyrics, while Shinee's resident rapper Minho yet again contributed to the rap portion.

"Selene 6.23" is a collaboration with the classical pianist Yiruma. It is a medium tempo pop ballad integrated with elements of modern orchestra. The instrumental of the piece was composed by Yiruma. "Selene 6.23" is the first collaboration between Yiruma and Shinee. The music producers are Ted Kim and 2Face. The lyrics were penned by Jonghyun.

Dream Girl – The Misconceptions of You was released digitally on February 19, 2013, alongside lead single "Dream Girl". The physical edition was released a day later. The music video premiered on February 19 and features the group doing unique tricks with mic stands that are noted to be the highlight of the dance routine, choreographed by Tony Testa. The music video is the work of Digipedi, a South Korean video production company formed and led by the duo Seong Won-mo and Park Sang-woo. A Japanese version of "Dream Girl", written by Hidenori Tanaka and agehasprings, was later included as one of the three tracks on Shinee's eighth Japanese single "Boys Meet U", which was released on August 21, 2013, under the distributing label of EMI Music Japan. Before its release, the song was performed live during their second Japan arena tour Shinee World 2013.

Why So Serious? – The Misconceptions of Me was released digitally on April 26, 2013, and physically on April 29, 2013. "Why So Serious?" served as the lead single and was released simultaneously with the music video on April 26. The music video was filmed in Cheongdam-dong and Namyangju in early April, featuring choreography by Devin Jamieson, who previously worked with the group's labelmates Super Junior. Both the dance and the story present in the music video are reminiscent of the lyrics to the song; as "Why So Serious?" begins describing a zombie's awakening, Shinee lies down on the floor and reaches toward the sky. Jonghyun was unable to participate in the music video and the early stages of album promotions due to injuries sustained during a car accident. SM Entertainment said in a statement, "Jonghyun was discharged from the hospital [...], and until he is fully healed, he’ll be focusing on treatments." He resumed activities on May 23, joining the group for their performance on M Countdown.

The two parts of the album were collected together as The Misconceptions of Us on August 8, 2013. It included two new songs, "Selene 6.23" and "Better Off". The album cover art was designed by Key.

Billboard K-Town columnist Jeff Benjamin wrote that the lead single, "Dream Girl", is a "safe, enjoyable mainstream single" while the album is "a triumph that never lacks in energy and balances nods to 80s pop stars and forward-thinking pop". He said "songs like 'Punch Drunk Love' and 'Aside' sonically recall the sounds of Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, respectively", while "tracks like 'Beautiful' and 'Runaway' combine unique electronic production elements over sugary boy band harmonies to create year-round pop music".

Dream Girl – The Misconceptions of You was commercially successful in South Korea—the title track topped the Gaon Digital Chart, while the album charted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart. The album sold over 137,000 copies during the first month of release and more than 180,000 by the end of the year. It was the ninth best-selling album of 2013.

Why So Serious? – The Misconceptions of Me sold over 130,000 copies in 2013, and as of 2016, the whole Misconceptions series has sold around 360,000 copies in South Korea. In 2024, EBS named The Misconceptions of Us one of the 100 best Korean popular music albums since 2004.

Notes

• ^{^[a]} Minho is credited for the rap lyrics
• ^{^[b]} Key is credited for the rap lyrics
• ^{^[c]} JQ is credited for the rap lyrics

• Official website (in Korean)
• Official website (in Japanese)
• Official website (in Chinese)