Chuu is known for her sparkling and energetic side — but many have wondered whether she tries to be bright on purpose. The singer says she is born to be cheerful and hopes to make everyone else feel upbeat with her second solo EP "Strawberry Rush."

“I, like everyone else, get scars. But I think I’m someone who recovers faster than others. I also forget things faster than anyone else,” solo artist Chuu said during a group interview held at a cafe in Mapo District, western Seoul, ahead of the release of her second solo EP on Tuesday.


Chuu said she didn’t necessarily act bright, instead, she is “naturally” bright thanks to her family — who are even more bright and energetic than Chuu herself.

“My younger brother is even more energetic than I am, and the pure energy that I receive from my younger brother really helps me stay positive,” Chuu said, adding that she grew up in a family where members would tell each other to “grab a piece of ssam [meat wrapped in leafy vegetables] and forget about it.”

Chuu also attributed the help of her friends, LOONA members and fans to the positive energy and comfort she’s received throughout the years.

“Everyone goes through that tough moment where they need someone else’s support or comfort,” Chuu said, explaining why she decided to “double down on the support” with “Strawberry Rush.”

The singer read books and wrote poems but eventually came to the conclusion that singing messages of support through a song was the ideal way for her to convey her true feelings.

“I wanted to pack my energy into my songs,” Chuu said. “Songs have the ability to unite people despite the language barrier.”

Chuu’s second solo EP, “Strawberry Rush,” therefore, is an album that focuses on her refreshing and energetic side, showing the “Chuu core” — as the singer described it — more than in her 2017 song “Heart Attack.”

“‘Heart Attack’ shows the bright energy of a girl in her youth that can only be seen in her debut days. ‘Strawberry Rush’ on the other hand, is about a Chuu who is diligently improving to reach her goals,” she said.

The EP features title track “Strawberry Rush” followed by “Honeybee,” “Daydreamer” and “Lucid Dream.” It also has Korean and English versions of “Chocolate,” which she first released in Korean in February.

The upbeat title track, according to Chuu, feels bright and energetic, “but also features a lively, bubbly and playful vibe, just like the character from ‘Pippi Longstocking.'”

The line “Chuu can do it! Leave it to me,” inspired by her YouTube series “Chuu Can Do It,” best describes the mood of the song.

“Someone might laugh at the lyrics and go, ‘What’s up with her?’ But I’m serious. And while the lyrics might feel odd when you first listen to them, they flow with the melody and make the song memorable after all,” she said.

Chuu, in fact, revealed that she’d already listened to the song “about 582 times,” which is a particularly difficult task since she had to play it through the Files application on her phone, as the song had not yet been released.

“You can’t loop the song in the Files app so I manually looped it every time, which was an especially difficult task when listening in the shower,” Chuu said with a laugh, adding that she had to shake the water out of her phone constantly.

“I’m not tired of the song, though. It’s new every time, and it cheers me up every time I listen to it. Maybe I’ll be tired of the song in 20 years' time.”

The unusual lyrics in “Strawberry Love,” however, were surprising to even Chuu herself.

“I first read the lyrics in my bed, and reading the lyrics made me jump out of my bed,” Chuu said. “I’m so thankful for the lyrics — I was very touched and I liked them very much [despite] the somewhat odd lyrics.”

The upbeat and exciting theme carries through the choreography of “Strawberry Love” in showing her “Chuu core” nature.

“I’ve never waited so much for the dance practice sessions. I just wanted to jump around the stage out of excitement without any burdens and enjoy myself,” Chuu said.

“I always had the desire to smile and laugh on stage without regrets, and I think I’m about 10 steps closer, out of 50 total steps, to that goal.”

Chuu also revealed that she’s been writing her own songs “filled with my thoughts and messages that I want to include,” but explained that she still needs more time.

“I think I have high standards for myself, and I’m constantly fixing my songs,” she said. “I do wish to show my songs before it’s too late.”

In the last few months, many LOONA members were busy putting out their own releases. Loossemble dropped its second EP, “One of a Kind,” in late April, Yves made her solo debut with her first EP, “Loop,” on May 29 and ARTMS also made its debut on May 31 with “Dall.”

But this didn’t mean that the members were competing with each other.

“We’d talk about each others’ album releases whenever we met, and we'd always complain, jokingly, how our promotion schedules overlapped with each other,” Chuu said, adding that LOONA members are the few people that “they can rely on."

“I actually liked how my album promotion schedules were similar to the other members. It means that I can meet them in makeup salons — even when that may only be 20 minutes — and have some time where we can support and cheer each other up.”

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]