Song Review:: Xnghan&Xoul (RIIZE): Glow- Glow

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  • Release date: 2026 April 27
  • Album tracklist: Dancing Anyway, Glow, Light the Fire, Wishlist, Lovin' on Me
  • Album runtime: 15 minutes

 I avoided doing his debut song because I'm still upset that SM treated him like this and it set a dangerous precedent. However, and to be clear I am still very upset about it, at some point no matter how unfair something is, you either have to step away entirely or accept it. And my being upset with SM and avoiding his solo work is not fair to him because he has worked too hard for this. So. RIIZE is getting moved off of Underage Protocol, and I'll starting doing his songs. This has been sitting on me for a few months, probably since January or February, because I don't enjoy being this angry, but it's been long enough that my avoidance won't do anything. So, it's good to see you, Seunghan. Let's see what you've got for me.

This is such an SM sounding song. I can practically smell the SHINee coming off the instrumental (Excuse Me Miss, anyone? No? Just me?), but then it gets all NCT and loud and metallic. It's a fascinating blend of sounds with an excellent rhythm of the energy and vibe. We also have an EDM dance break, which always pleases me to hear. I still find it funny that that's the thing I picked up as a love from K-Pop, but here we are.

The man has vibrato he's actually showing off. Look, I've been saying it for a while, basically since they debuted, but RIIZE sounds and feels a lot like SHINee 2.0, and I'm pleased that even as a soloist, this holds true. We've got a range of textures from him, including the range from singing to rapping. And when he drops his voice? Oh, that's nice. That's very nice.

He's got the SM look as well. You know, I read a comment somewhere early on that if a music video has part of the choreography being done in water, the choreography is going to hit differently. This music video has part of the choreography being done in water. It's a vibes and visuals music video, definitely, but he does look very good.

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