Crooner Shin Returns After Two Years

Breaking a two-year hiatus, singer Shin Seung-hun is back with his 10th album, “The Romantist.” Shin unveiled his new material and plans for his upcoming world tour at a news conference held in Seoul on Tuesday.

Since Shin’s debut in 1990, he has scored many hits starting with “Poiji Annun Sarang” and “Kuhuro Oretdongan.” Since then he has sold over 14 million records and held over 700 concerts and is now unarguably referred to as the “King of Ballads.”

In his most recent recording – 2004’s “Ninth Reply” – Shin exhibited his sharpened songwriting skills with a diverse collection that ranged from traditional Korean melodies to Latin and even touching on modern rock.

Shin has ventured even further out for “The Romantist.” He experiments with different genres including tango, gospel, swing and jazz.

However Shin told reporters that having also produced the entire album marks a new beginning to his musical career.

“I would like to convey my message through the voices of fellow artists,” he said. “What I mean by this is I intend to expand my territory into producing and songwriting.”

From some 50 songs that Shin collected in the making of the album he finally settled for 15. Having had such difficulty choosing songs, Shin didn’t have the heart to designate a title track. This is why the album will be going without one with Shin promoting all the songs on the album equally.

Oct. 14 marks the launching of “The Shin Seung-hun Show-Color of Romance” tour which he will be taking to four other major cities across the country by the end of this year.

After this weekend’s double bill at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, Shin will perform at the Taegu Convention Center on Nov. 18, Kwangju Culture and Arts Hall on Nov. 25 and 26, Pusan KBS Hall on Dec. 2 and 3, and Ulsan KBS Hall on Dec. 16 and 17.

Shin’s nationwide tour will end with Seoul encore performances, scheduled for Dec. 23 and 24. Next March, “The Shin Seung Hun Show” will be staged in six Japanese cities and two cities in China the following month. In the fall, Shin will take the show to four cities across the United States.

Bae Sung-woo, CEO of Shin’s label Dorothy Music, said that while the American venues have not been chosen they are in the middle of talks with some of the major ones in the United States. “At this point, we can’t say for sure, but Carnegie Hall is a definite possibility,” Bae said.

Shin had planned a Carnegie Hall performance in 1996 but it was cancelled at the last minute due to problems with concert organizers.

“Shin has actually had requests on numerous occasions to produce other pop artists. So one thing that is sure is that we expect the upcoming U.S. performances to serve as a launching pad for Shin’s producing career in the U.S.,” Bae said.