We take a little moment to steer away from this week’s comebacks and focus on a comeback from last week. Once again, I apologise for the week long delay for this particular review. It somehow just got away from me.But back to introducing the focus of today’s review – Lee Suhyun, who made her solo debut last Friday with the single, ALIEN. If Lee Suhyun is unfamiliar to you, you might recognise her as one half of the sibling duo, AKMU (Akdong Musician). Lee Seehyun’s brother, Changhyuk, is the other half of the musical duo. While her brother is not performing with her, it looks like he is working with others to write and compose songs for her. It seems AKMU will always be a pair.

ALIEN takes on a funky disco profile, something that has been trending in KPOP a lot lately. If you are becoming tired of the re-emergence of the retro trend, then maybe ALIEN would be an eye-roll to you. But Lee Suhyun’s take on the genre is quite pleasant and refreshing. ALIEN isn’t oversaturated with the trend and it actually feels held back quite a bit. Holding back in this sense makes the song feel more refined and gives it a modern, despite the disco influences still being prominent. I also felt that holding back from going full on vibrant and powerful retro was done so to compliment the delicate nature of Lee Suhyun’s vocals. Her breathy vocals take the song to the next level and she slips into this falsetto style which really adds to that refinement I mentioned. I also find the chorus to be super catchy and the melodies throughout the song to be enjoyable. Everything comes together to be quite pleasant. However, I find the song lacks something. While it has been out for a week, I haven’t really gone back as much to the song as I hoped for. A theory behind this lacking element could potentially be a stronger and more defined climax. What we good was consistent and logical, but I think something with a little more oomph could have given ALIEN extra mileage and appeal.

Lee Suhyun is super cute in this music video. Visual game aside, I really like how it is revealed that Lee Sehyun is an alien (just like her mother told her so in the lyrics). The music video constantly changes between a human form and a comic form. This conversion made the video appealing and a little more interesting. It allowed for the ‘Earth saving mission’ storyline to be incorporated alongside the increase in self confidence that she experience once she is aware of this secret (i.e. she plays the arcade game in her room and then later on in the public arena). Another clever and well thought out video.

Lee Suhyun focuses more on the live vocal aspect of her performance, which meant she had to forsake some of the performance aspects. I would have liked to see more energy behind her moves and sharpness. It is her first time as a solo artist, so I understand why she would nervous and stiff. Hopefully as time goes by, she feels a little more comfortable. I raise this because I felt that the performance had some attitude and I wished it was reflected in her moves.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 7/10
Overall Rating – 8.1/10