Red Velvet’s Wendy is officially returning as a solo artist. On November 9 at midnight KST, the singer announced her fourth solo mini album, “Gleam Hour,” unveiling a full schedule poster for the comeback rollout. The album will be released on November 23 at 6 p.m. KST, according to Soompi, the same evening release slot used for her previous solo albums.
The announcement puts a title, a format, and a firm date on a return that has been expected for weeks. In mid-October, The Korea Herald reported that Wendy would release new music in November, citing her agency, and the new schedule poster now confirms the plan. The poster lays out the promotional calendar leading up to release day, opening a two-week countdown of teasers ahead of the November 23 drop.
“Gleam Hour” will be Wendy’s fourth solo mini album and her first solo release in more than a year. Her most recent solo effort, her third mini album “Cerulean Verge,” was released on September 10, 2025, led by the title track “Sunkiss.” Her agency, ASND Entertainment, announced that comeback in July 2025, noting at the time that it was her first new music in about a year and six months since her second mini album, “Wish You Hell,” in March 2024.
Following “Cerulean Verge,” Wendy launched her first solo tour, “W:ealive,” taking the new material on the road. The tour opened its first chapter in Seoul on September 20 and 21, 2025, giving fans their first chance to hear the album’s songs live. The new comeback now extends a solo run that has grown steadily since she stepped out on her own.
Wendy’s solo catalog began with her first mini album, “Like Water,” released in April 2021, followed by “Wish You Hell” on March 12, 2024, a project that explored self-discovery with candid storytelling, and “Cerulean Verge” on September 10, 2025. Each release has leaned on her reputation as Red Velvet’s main vocalist, and “Gleam Hour” now adds a fourth chapter to that run. Red Velvet debuted in August 2014, and Wendy has balanced group and solo work throughout the group’s second decade.
The solo comeback also arrives in a busy year for Red Velvet as a group. The group released the seasonal EP “Velvet Summer” in August 2026, a release that marked their 12th debut anniversary. Earlier in the year, Wendy had teased the possibility of more group activity, telling viewers of a JTBC “Knowing Bros” special dedicated to powerful vocalists in April that there “might be some good news this year” for fans waiting on a full-group comeback, and even promising it when pressed.
Wendy has stayed visible in the run-up to the comeback. In October, she performed at the Oxfam Super Live donation talk concert at Sejong-ro Park in Seoul on October 17, a charity event hosted by the international relief and development organization Oxfam to support vulnerable communities around the world, and she has continued as a master on the ENA audition show “THE SCOUT.” The November solo release now gives that visibility a new centerpiece.
“Gleam Hour” is also her second solo release since joining ASND Entertainment, the agency she moved to after parting ways with her former agency. The first, “Cerulean Verge,” marked the fresh start; the new album will show how that partnership is developing more than a year on.
No further details about “Gleam Hour” have been shared yet, including its track list, with the schedule poster serving as the first official look at the rollout. More teasers are expected to follow in the days leading up to the release, when the album arrives on November 23 at 6 p.m. KST.
