Red Velvet’s IRENE made her comeback at the start of the week with her 1st studio album, Biggest Fan, and the title track of the same name. It serves as her first music release since the return of the subunit she is part of alongside fellow member SEULGI, and her solo debut in late 2024 with Like A Flower (the title of both her debut mini-album and title track).

What I really like about Biggest Fan is its dance-pop instrumental, which provides a funky, groovy backing for the track. The upbeat nature and vibrancy of the background helped make Biggest Fan feel bold and commanding, even if it wasn’t the intention. I enjoyed IRENE’s nasal tone, which is on full display throughout Biggest Fan. And the primary hook, “Lookin’ at you, Lookin’ at me“, while repetitive and could have been spruced up with a different set of lines in its second half, was catchy and earwormy – it’s the most memorable aspect of Biggest Fan. The thing holding me back about Biggest Fan is that I like the individual elements on their own. But when they come together, I don’t find the same level of engagement in the song. Potentially more interesting verses and a stronger first half of the chorus (i.e., the half of the centrepiece before the mentioned hook above) could help make Biggest Fan more engaging.

The music video sees IRENE exude confidence in her beautiful visuals. Everyone around her becomes her ‘biggest fan’ throughout the music video – from walking in public, the modelling world, to even on stage. I was also struck by her visuals in this video. In the end, she embraces her fans as she makes global headlines. I did notice that the headlines said she was making her solo debut through Biggest Fan, which was an interesting detail. One thing that struck me as I was watching the music video whilst writing this review was that I don’t think I have any reason to go back to it. Aside from what I mentioned above, there wasn’t much else to the video, nor was there much else for me to seek it out.

The performance was good. I really like the tutting-esque poses that IRENE and the dancers did during the aforementioned hook, as well as the overall brightness of everyone during the performance.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.7/10