It is Solo Day for the next two days! A namesake day that I have called on the spot because I plan to focus on different solo comebacks that have recently occurred. The two comebacks I want to focus on today are very hot, occuring very recently to today. You probably already know which ones I am talking about with that clue. But in case you haven’t realized yet, one of them is IU’s Celebrity. Celebrity is a pre-release single ahead of IU’s official comeback some time later in the year. It was released yesterday and has since gone on to top all the major real time charts in South Korea, once again showing us IU’s power on the music industry and South Korea as a whole. This is IU’s first comeback since the release of the digital single, Eight (featuring BTS’ Suga), last year.

IU has proven her prowess as a solo artist through all tracks that she releases or features on. And I really like that her solo releases don’t necessary conform to one particular style of music. She is very versatile, covering pop, folk, ballad and R&B. She has probably also done electronic pop/EDM before, but Celebrity is the most recent song of this style to be added to her ranging portfolio. It definitely is an answer to current trends, but obviously does what it needs to do to showcase IU herself. And in doing so, she keeps the song pretty light, making Celebrity quite enjoyable. Even the deepest drop in the chorus isn’t excessively abrasive or emphasised by heavy thumping. And because the song comes off light, we get to hear IU’s vocals without any problems. Per usual, she sounds stunning. I particularly really like the set up of the chorus, with one drop accompanied by lyrics and that deeper drop which I just touched upon a moment ago. It isn’t necessary groundbreaking. But paired with IU’s innocent tone and airy vocals, it comes off as somewhat refreshing. I also feel that the deeper tone allows for IU to do a bit more experimentation in certain aspects of the comeback such as the performance, which is slightly different to what we see usually from the soloist. I find the chorus’ melody to be quite memorable, which is followed up nicely by the addictive ‘You are my celebrity‘ hook. it was pretty much ringing through my mind today, since hearing the song yesterday. Overall, IU continues to showcase her versatility through her music through another great song. Per usual, I am excited to see what is next for IU, which makes me anticipate her upcoming studio album.

The music video does a really godd job of giving us an interprtation of the lyrics. The lyrics simply tells us to embrace ourselves and enjoy being who we are. We are all individuals and sometimes not always perfect (You’re a star painted by a left hand). But because of that, we are all celebrities. IU also recently revealed that she wrote a song for a close friend, who happens to be a close celebrity. The music video showcases IU as a celebrity, always in the public eye. She catches a glimpse of a non-celebrity version of herself, which engrosses her. To celebrity IU, non-celebrity IU is a celebrity. But non-celebrity IU, after a bit of chasing, shows celebrity IU that it was actually herself the entire time, serving us a reminder that we should embraces ourselves no matter who we are. It is a very nicely put together video and I really liked the visuals of IU throughout the video.

We also see a bit of choreography for this performance, but it only kicks in when the second drop occurs. What we saw is pretty good and fitting for the music. It is plain, but I am willing to overlook that. I am joining in with fans who are rejoicing that IU has finally returned with a bit of a dance. It has definitely been a while.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 9.1/10