Velvet Summer: Inside Red Velvet's Dreamiest Seaside Comeback Yet
- , Von SOOJIB growth
- 13 min Lesezeit
The Summer Queens surface after two years with Velvet Summer, a mermaid-and-surf fantasy led by title track Surfin' Boy. We break down the concept, the UK illustrator behind the teaser, both versions and how to collect this era.
EP Hype · Summer Mini Album
RED VELVET
Velvet Summer
The Summer Queens surface after two years, and this tide runs deeper than any bop.
Out 3 August 2026 · 6PM KST
Meet The Surfin' Boy
Red Velvet are back, and this time they are chasing the tide. After more than two years without a full-group release, the Summer Queens return with Velvet Summer, a mini album wrapped in a dreamy, slightly melancholic seaside fantasy. The teaser said it best: a mermaid and a surfer meeting in the middle of the open sea, all mist and colour and longing. It is summer, but not the loud kind. It is the kind that hums under the surface.
A new kind of summer sound
Nobody does a seasonal comeback quite like Red Velvet. The whole "summer equals Red Velvet" formula exists because they keep reinventing it. Velvet Summer is billed as a fresh, new-style summer song, and knowing this group it could lean either way: the bright, playful Red side or the sleek, dreamy Velvet side. The surf-and-mermaid visuals are hinting at something softer and more atmospheric than a pure bop, which honestly has us more excited. It also helps that they skipped the usual member teaser photos and led the whole era with a hand-drawn illustration instead, which is a bold move and it is working. No notes so far.
To understand why a Red Velvet summer is such an event, you have to go back to where the "summer queen" title started. Their first summer mini album, The Red Summer, dropped back in 2017 and its title track "Red Flavor" is still the blueprint: fruit-bright, impossibly catchy and pure seasonal serotonin. Here is that throwback, just so we are all on the same page about the legacy Velvet Summer is stepping into.
Throwback: "Red Flavor" from The Red Summer (2017), a previous era, not from Velvet Summer. Video: Red Velvet official (SM Entertainment)
The first look
Here is the moment that kicked it all off. On 5 July, Red Velvet dropped the "Meet The Surfin' Boy" teaser and changed the whole mood in one clip. Watch the animation and you will get why everyone lost it a little.
Video: Red Velvet official (SM Entertainment)
The hand behind the artwork
Here is the detail that made everyone stop scrolling. Instead of the usual member visuals, this era opened with a proper illustrated poster, and it is the work of Elise Caddick, a UK-based illustrator known online as pea_artsoup. She builds her worlds in pencil and paper, all soft texture and quiet magic, which is exactly why that mermaid, that surfer and that misty ocean feel so dreamlike. As a London shop, we are a little biased, but seeing a British illustrator behind a Red Velvet comeback is the kind of crossover we are fully here for.
Five tracks, one tide: the tracklist
Velvet Summer is a five-track mini album led by the title song "Surfin' Boy." SM has kept the B-side lineup under wraps for now, with teasers rolling out across July, so treat the list below as a live one that we will complete the second the official tracklist surfaces. For the moment, every wave points to that title track.
VELVET SUMMER · 5 TRACKS
01 Surfin' Boy (Title)
02 To be revealed
03 To be revealed
04 To be revealed
05 To be revealed
Title track · SOOJIB's read
"Surfin' Boy"
The title alone tells you the direction: motion, salt air, that pull towards someone across the water. Everything Red Velvet has shown so far, the glowing ocean, the mermaid, the surfer cutting through a luminous wave, points to a summer track that trades the fruit-punch brightness of their earlier seasonal hits for something dreamier and more cinematic. If this is the group leaning into their "Velvet" side for summer rather than pure "Red," it could be their most atmospheric season song yet. We will be listening on repeat from 6PM KST on 3 August.
Which version? SOOJIB's Pick
Two versions to choose from, and honestly both are serving. High Tide leans clean and classic with a folded poster and five random photocards to chase. Big Wave brings the tattoo stickers and a random poster out of two, which feels like the more collectible, unbox-and-scream option. If you are a completionist, the Big Wave 2-album set exists and yes, it is a trap we would happily fall into.
High Tide Ver.
CD + Photobook + Sticker + Random Postcard (1 of 5) + Folded Poster + Random Photocard (1 of 5)
Big Wave Ver.
CD + Photobook + Tattoo Sticker + Random Postcard (1 of 5) + Random Folded Poster (1 of 2) + Random Photocard (1 of 5)
Ride the wave with us
Both versions are up for pre-order at SOOJIB. Grab your side of the tide while this era is fresh.
📅 Pre-order Deadline: 31 July 2026
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