Red Velvet’s Irene Makes her First Solo Comeback With “Biggest Fan”

Photo: SM Entertainment

It’s been about a year and a half since the leader of Red Velvet, Irene, made her solo debut. Her debut did very well, selling nearly 400k copies and going platinum according to the KMCA. Irene is a very popular idol, so it’s really not a surprise that her solo work has done so well thus far. She’s now made a return with her first comeback, her first studio album Biggest Fan. If “Like A Flower” was right up your alley, you’re going to love “Biggest Fan.”

Speaking truthfully, “Biggest Fan” sounds almost like a carbon copy of “Like A Flower” at first listen. The EDM-influenced pop track has the same high-tempo driving beat as her debut track, so it feels like not much was done to change up the formula. Some may say staying tried and true to a concept makes sense, but perhaps because the sound itself isn’t my favorite genre, I have a more skeptical outlook on the redundancy of the release. I do like to see soloists branch out to different sounds and genres (taking Choi Yena, for example), and seeing how they can put their own unique twist and identity on the different types of music. With all that said, Irene still has a beautiful voice and performance regardless, and since her debut did decently well it does make some sense they’d continue with the formula.

The music video does have a different feel than the previous release, less of a retro look and a more high glam modern kind of concept. Irene’s visuals are obviously her strongest selling point, so there is heavy focus on that in the music video. And as usual she looks quite flawless. Irene has the visuals that fit very well with this type of concept, so I’d say that visually it’s a homerun, which is why I’m a bit disappointed that the song didn’t quite live up. The concept overall is very fitting for her, which is only highlighted by the visual storytelling SM Entertainment is famous for. 

Check out the video for “Biggest Fan” below.