[1] On January 26, the name of the third studio album was announced as INVU and would be released on February 14 and consists of thirteen tracks, with pre-orders starting on the same day.

[5] On the same day, SM announced that the highlight video teaser scheduled for release from February 4–10 has been cancelled due to production issues.

[13][14] The fourth track "Set Myself On Fire" was described as a pop song characterized by "vintage guitar performance that stimulates emotions" with lyrics about "the denial of reality after seeing couples saying farewell to each other" from Taeyeon's POV.

[15] The seventh track "Cold As Hell" was described as an up-tempo pop song with "a bright and cheerful rhythm" and "catchy chorus that is repeated like a spell" with lyrics about "the heartbreaking and regretful loss of a person, who gave up everything for love".

[17] The ninth track "Heart" was described a pop ballad song that "starts with a minimalist focus on the guitar before progressing to an intense distortion bass and piano".

[11] The eleventh track "You Better Not" was described as a song that changes between "the eerie feeling of organ, violin, and vocal harmony" and the "strong 808 bass break" with lyrics containing a "message [about] a person who remains a desolate space as [they] cannot accept the parting".

[21] Rain Tears from Korean online magazine Idology found INVU as "an exemplary case of a full album that draws a long narrative, and it will become a milestone in Taeyeon's discography".

Meanwhile, critics Mano praised her impressive vocal and described the album as "tenacity, even hysterical, or highly sensitive (all in a good sense)"[22] Jung Soo-min of IZM called INVU "a rich and elegant moonlight" in which "contains emotional changes and personal maturity under an organic and dense design from the beginning to the end".