IU makes a surprise comeback with the release of strawberry moon earlier today, which adds to her list of releases for 2021. This follows her solo February 2021 comeback release with LILAC (title of both the lead track and her fifth studio album) and Celebrity (a pre-release single from the same album). It appears that IU is making up for her year long absence from the music industry in 2020 with these releases throughout 2021.

strawberry moon is a pleasantly beautiful song. Like most tracks released by this digital queen, I was captivated from the get-go, largely in part to IU’s heavenly vocals and the calming nature of the song. In strawberry moon, her vocals took on a purer and youthful tone. It is lovable and light, with the latter characteristic helping her vocals soar as the song progresses. The youthful tone that she adopts also reminded me of her earlier works, which was a nice walk down nostalgia lane. I will admit that the the melodies aren’t the most memorable piece of work from the soloist and hence it lacks the appeal to get me going back to the song compared to a catchier track, but IU’s vocals did a fantastic job of bringing them to life and making them charming to listen to. strawberry moon‘s instrumentation falls into the pop genre and features a presence of electronic instrumentation. Everything is quite light, as well. For me, it is the instrumentation that makes strawberry moon pleasant and contemporary, compared to other releases out there. And altogether, the vocals (especially the harmonies we get throughout the song) and the light instrumentation come together to create a calming atmosphere that makes this song an ideal casual listen, such as when you are unwinding after a long day or just as something pleasant in the background while working or going about your day.

Like the song, the music video is also pleasantly beautiful, The music video tells the tale of IU and her lover. While it wasn’t clear to why, it has been a while since they both have seen each other. IU spends some of the video reminiscing about the past with her partner (i.e they playing video games with one another, taking pictures and him giving her the necklace). I also think other parts of the video is based on IU’s imagination of what they could be doing. Piecing together the start and the end, she had set up a time to reunite with him (i.e. when the Strawberry Moon occurs), with the necklace that he gifted her as being a key to them reuniting. Based on their behaviour, she has been keen to return to his side, and he was genuinely surprised that she waited for him. And I guess from there on, they lived happily ever after. Aside from the sweet story, I quite liked the visuals of the video and IU looked stunning throughout.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Overall Rating – 9/10