How to describe Wendy (Son Seungwan) in a paragraph? She debuted at age 20 with 3rd gen giant Red Velvet and fellow members Irene, Seulgi, Joy, and Yeri, debuted again in 2022 with SM supergroup Got The Beat, and has been a soloist since coming out with Like Water in 2021. She’s also a voice actress, the host of her own radio show, and quite possibly, my favorite idol of all time.

Here are my credentials: I probably covered it with “my favorite idol of all time”, but just to make sure, here you go. Red Velvet were the first kpop group I out-and-out loved, all the way back in 2020, and even though they don’t come back often, I still consider myself a ReVeLuv (their fans). As for Wendy herself, I’ve followed her solo career as long as it’s existed, and one of her songs–which we’ll get into–holds a special place in my heart. I’ve covered Wendy in my solo rankings series, but I’ve been waiting for the day she has enough solo songs to give her a review of her own. And that day also happens to be when she’s about to embark on her first solo world tour, so the timing was, let’s say, Written In The Stars. (Sorry.)

Full disclosure: I know that I normally go into a review with little knowledge of a group and try not to let personal bias cloud my judgement. But since that’s going to be a bit tough this time around, I’m just going to let it go and take you on a tour of Wendy’s solo music while I try not to joyfully giggle my way into an early grave.

So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

Single #1: Written In The Stars

Written In The Stars, as I’m sure the picture makes clear, is a collaboration between Wendy and John Legend, through SM Entertainment’s “Station” program. Normally I don’t cover collabs in solo work, but since this was Wendy’s first song without her members and because I love John Legend, here we are.

To state the obvious, both Wendy and John Legend are known for having lovely voices, but I wasn’t sure how they would work together. Sometimes even excellent professionals’ tones and styles clash or something’s just not quite right and you can’t put a finger on it. But here, they’re basically as close to perfect as I’ve seen in a collaboration between a kpop artist and a Western one. The song is coffeeshop at its core, punctuated only by an acoustic guitar and the lightest handclap percussion, pushing the vocals center stage in a way that works pretty well. I’m noted as getting easily bored by songs in this category—see my reviews on Baekhyun or Song Jieun for that—but with this one, I was grooving right along. My appreciation of Written In The Stars has its limits, and I definitely won’t be making a habit of listening to it, but for what it is, it’s undeniably lovely.

EP #1: Like Water

It’s hard to believe that, at time of writing, it’s already been almost five years since Like Water came out. It feels like yesterday that I was waiting with bated breath at the premiere. And it’s the kind of song that grows on you, I think. Wendy’s soothing vocals, the gentle acoustic guitar in the background, the hazy shades of blue and yellow throughout the MV; the whole song just feels like taking a deep, calming breath, in the best way possible, and she carries it off perfectly. Her voice just tiptoes along these gorgeous background strings with ease, and you’d be forgiven for thinking, listening to this, that this song is a walk in the park to sing. (It’s not). Even before that final, triumphant chorus, it’s hard not to be effected by such an emotional yet technically excellent performance.

From the EP, Like Water, though I loved the gentle strings (and of course the vocals) in Taeyeon-esque ballad The Road, the late-night jazzy sound of Why Can’t You Love Me, and of course bandmate Seulgi’s feature in the very sweet Best Friend, there was only ever going to be one song I’d pick for my hidden gem, and it’s this one.

Single #2: When This Rain Stops

Just like with Wendy herself, I find it almost impossible to express all of my feelings for When This Rain Stops in a paragraph. There should be charts, and lots of hand-waving, ideally, but I digress.

For me, there’s never a competition where When This Rain Stops is involved. It’s one of my favorite k-pop songs of all time, and (in my humble opinion) is damn near-perfect. Penned during Wendy’s recovery from a terrible stage accident in 2019 that required months of hospitalization and nearly ended her career, it’s both reassurance to herself and to anyone else who needs it that darkness isn’t permanent, that the light will return, and that taking a break isn’t the same as giving up. Heartwarming yet heartbreaking, comforting yet moving, and gentle yet powerful, it never fails to make me emotional, and was actually the first song I learned to sing (and the first song I performed) in Korean.

And all of that isn’t even touching Wendy’s vocals, which are at some of their absolute best here. Exuding power and grace without sacrificing the palpable emotion and catharsis, they’re the thing that makes When This Rain Stops everything that it is. There’s really nothing I could say about it that hasn’t been said already, but I will say: if you only hear one song from this review, let it be this one.

EP #2: Wish You Hell

Since her first EP was so ballad heavy, Wish You Hell’s off-kilter, very mid-2010s sound comes as a surprise—though not an unwelcome one. Wish You Hell. I watched this when it came out, and I remember being a little disappointed given how much I love Like Water, which is on the whole a stronger piece (both as a song and an album). But, looking at it with new eyes, I find myself actually quite liking this song, appreciating its themes of self-transformation, solid beat, and clever lyrics during the verses. I think that Wish You Hell’s biggest issue is its chorus, which, instead of being sprawling in the way both Wendy and Red Velvet excel at, is only a couple simple lines that don’t live up to the cleverness of the rest of it. It’s a weird, charming little song, but it’s wormed its way into my heart.

From the EP, I enjoyed the brassy, big-band-meets-synth sound of Best Ever and the confident vocals and strutting beat of Queen Of The Party. My hidden gem was the all-English synth pop His Car Isn’t Yours, with its quiet, heartbroken delivery and Taylor Swift-esque simple yet devastating turns of phrase. It’s funny; normally I’m really not a fan of laid-back, coffee-shop sounds, but on the whole, I really like Wendy’s versions of it. Maybe (probably) it’s my own bias showing, but I feel as though she always takes “coffeeshop” to the next level, whether that’s through vocals or through a more complicated background arrangement, often with strings or acoustics and synths. At least, she’s managed to turn a certified hater, so kudos for that, Wendy.

Single #3: Believe

Marking her first release as a solo artist after leaving SM Entertainment, I really had no idea what kind of song Believe was going to be. It starts out soft, just rushing waves and a slow, simple piano as a backdrop for Wendy’s vocals. And speaking of which, Wendy’s voice is stronger than ever, powerful and joyful, with its signature floating along the lines. And when it all starts to build, it’s impossible not to find yourself pulled along. I think I actually put my hand to my heart when the chorus began (because I’m a sap, I know). Sometimes a song comes into your life at just the right time, and I needed its words right at the moment it appeared. I’m sure that, just like When This Rain Stops, it will . It’s a power ballad in its purest form, and it feels like the best way to mark a new chapter in Wendy’s career: arms out to the sky, voice reaching to the clouds.

EP #3: Cerulean Verge

The twinkling, magical beat that opens Sun Kiss immediately caught my attention. Despite being similarly poppy, it goes just about as far in the opposite direction from Wish You Hell as it could, with sprawling verses, a chugging beat, a utterly joyful explosion of a chorus, and a bridge that ties everything up with a beautiful blue bow. Add to that a strong rock drive I absolutely wasn’t expecting, and an MV full of color and sun, and I have a new song in the running for my favorite single.

(Quick TW: eating disorders, weight loss)

You may be wondering why, after paragraphs on paragraphs about every song before, Sun Kiss just gets one. And that’s because, honestly, I found it hard to focus while watching the MV because of how thin Wendy looks. Her arms, especially, are nearly all bone. You may have noticed it in the header image and the image above for Believe, but it’s really clear with this one. It’s not new for kpop idols to be underweight—in fact, it’s horrifyingly common—but when it’s to this extent, I feel like, as someone with a platform (small as it is), I have to say something. For anyone reading who may be struggling with their own self-image: this is not healthy. Yes, Wendy is beautiful, but please, do not try to look like this. I know how you feel, I promise, but this will only make everything worse. You deserve to eat, to feel comfortable in your own body, and your body deserves love too, even if it isn’t giving it to you in return.

I’d also like to put it out there that I don’t know anything about Wendy’s health. I have no idea if her losing weight in the last year is due to choice or an E.D., a company forcing it on her, or a medical problem, all o f which are possible. Also, this MV was shot months ago and in her live performances, Wendy does look healthier, so it’s possible that she’s already in recovery. Either way, I thought it important to address.

(TW ends)

Get your fans ready, because I’m about to tell you that I think I like Cerulean Verge even more than Like Water. There’s the road-trip ready, rock-pop Fireproof, with its sing-along, clap-out chorus—a sound basically tailor-made for me. There’s the mile-a-minute, heart-pumping sound of Existential Crisis, that constantly one-ups the chorus. The soaring vocals and chugging beat of Hate (Squared), which marks Wendy’s first time as both a songwriter and composer. The soothing acoustic sound of Chapter You…I could go on forever, probably. Hilariously enough, just like When This Rain Stops came out at just the right time, the song Existential Crisis actually came out when I was having an existential crisis, and it made me feel just a bit better.

Verdict: TL;DR

I’m glad I did this! I’ve wanted to do this review for such a long time—basically, since I started the blog—and now that the time is finally here, I’m finding myself honestly a bit emotional. While editing, though I didn’t have too much time, I watched Wendy and Gfriend’s Yuju on The K-Star Next Door, and Wendy’s Youngstreet episodes with Joy and NMIXX: both adorable, but in very different ways. I had a wonderful time with this. I suppose it’d be expected for me to say that I became a bigger fan of Wendy than I was before, but honestly, I don’t think that’s possible. If anything, it’s reignited both my love for her and for writing reviews in general. This piece is coming out just a few days before the blog’s 2 year anniversary, and it felt like a perfect way to celebrate. I’ll make a special post for that, of course, but it’s worth repeating here: thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.

My Top 5 songs were When This Rain Stops, Fireproof, Sun Kiss, Like Water, and Believe, with His Car Isn’t Yours and Existential Crisis as honorable mentions. Wendy gets a 9.5 out of 10 from me, shocking absolutely no one in a five-mile radius. I’m sure you’re sick to death of hearing me talk about how much I love Wendy’s voice, so all I’ll say here is that I don’t think it’s hyperbole to call her one of the strongest performers of the third generation. She’s covered genre after genre: coffeeshop, power ballad, classic pop, and even rock, and she makes it all feel like it’s her own. Wendy has always been one of my favorite idols, and getting to see her go from an accident that many people—herself included—thought would be the end of her career to achieving the success she has now makes me so proud. I suppose what I’m saying is that, when Wendy goes on tour this year, you better believe I’ll be moving heaven and earth to see her live.

Next time, we’re onto a boy group, which is definitely going to be a multi-parter. Tschüss!