Chuu Pushes Past Cute Image on Debut LP 'XO, My Cyberlove'

Singer Chuu has opened 2026 with her first full-length solo album, a nine-track project built around an unlikely narrator: an artificial intelligence in love with a human./ATRP

Soloist Chuu has released her first full-length album, "XO, My Cyberlove," a nine-track project built around an artificial intelligence that drifts through space, waiting for a human user to come online.

"It's the story of an AI floating in space, endlessly waiting for the user's 'online' light to turn on," Chuu said. "If the user doesn't come, the AI can't even make the first move toward the human it loves. I tried to hold the emotions back rather than push them, and I hope people listen closely."

Singer Chuu has opened 2026 with her first full-length solo album, a nine-track project built around an unlikely narrator: an artificial intelligence in love with a human./ATRP

Chuu spoke with reporters in January at a cafe in the Gangnam district of Seoul to mark the release of the album.

Opening the year with a solo full-length felt like a gift to her fans, she said. "Being able to start the year with a solo full album, and give fans a first present of the new year, is an honor and makes me happy."

The title track and album share the same name, "XO, My Cyberlove." Chuu said "XO" is an old shorthand for love, while "cyber love" nods to the kind of online romance that ran through 1990s cyber communication. "It's a song that looks at how we express love in the digital age, but from the point of view of an AI," she said. "From the AI's side, it's a love that can never happen. It's sad and romantic at the same time."

The choreography pushed her in a new direction. The routine strips out the sharp, heavy movement she is used to and leans on delicate lines through the arms and legs.

"I once said I practiced it 10,000 times, and I really did practice a lot," she said. "There isn't a single big, strong move in it. You have to bring out softer lines." She added that choreographer Choi Young-jun told her it was "hard enough that even dancers struggle with it."

To get through it, she stayed in the practice room until early in the morning. "While I was dancing, I felt like I had turned into a tin robot," she said. "So I practiced through the night as a group with the dancers, and for the first time in a while, it felt like being back in LOONA."

Singer Chuu /ATRP

She framed the album as a fuller picture of who she is as an artist. "Until now, I showed small pieces of myself through mini albums and singles," she said. "This time, I wanted to gather those pieces into one and show a new side of me."

That meant stepping away from the bright, comedic image she is best known for. "I think the humorous character people already know about me is shown plenty in other places," she said. "While preparing this album, I even took acting lessons to break out of that. I wanted to show that Chuu the musician is different. I want people to be curious about a new version of me, a new voice."

She said she had hoped to include a song she wrote herself, but did not feel ready. "I felt it wasn't good enough yet, so I didn't put it in. But by next year at the latest, I want to show myself writing music and lyrics," she said. "I'm learning guitar to write songs, and I keep working on lyrics."

Chuu pointed to her early career as a reason she stays sharp on busy schedules. "When I debuted with LOONA, it happened suddenly, and I didn't have enough time to polish my skills," she said. "The fact that I didn't get to debut fully prepared has actually become what drives me now."

She carries that into the studio. "If I don't give everything, I end up regretting it, so I keep telling myself to do my best," she said. "With recording, you have to do it in one set window, and it stays with you forever. I try to sing every line, every word, carefully."

Singer Chuu /ATRP

Near the end of the interview, she reflected on her growth. "I used to think my music was stuck in place," she said. "But I realized something this past year. If you only look at the path behind you, it looks like a circle, but from another angle it looks like a spring standing upright, rising. When I listen back to songs I recorded before, I can hear small ways I've grown."

She said her focus this year is simple. "This year, I'm really going to love my work," she said. "I want to push harder. I don't want to waste energy on other things. I'd rather put that time into taking care of myself and into the work."

"XO, My Cyberlove" looks at how relationships are shifting in the digital era, with the AI love story at its center. The title track is a pop song with an '80s feel, sung from the perspective of an AI whose love for a human can never be returned. The album carries nine tracks in total, moving across pop, R&B, indie, hyperpop and alternative, a deliberate attempt by Chuu to test how far she can stretch as an artist.