INTERVIEW Soyou's distinct sultry voice deepens in new album

Idol-turned-artist traverses different music genres

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Soyou from the disbanded girl band Sistar will go it alone with her new solo album, slated for release on Thursday. Titled “Part. 2 RE:FRESH” and fronted by the single “All Night,” the collection of dance music is produced in collaboration with acclaimed producers.

This comes after 10 months since she released her first solo album titled “Part. 1 RE:BORN” in December last year. After Sistar broke up in May 2017, Soyou has pursued a solo career, releasing the first album of emotion-filled mellow ballads.

In the upcoming album, Soyou came up with a Latin-themed dance song with an active stage performance. The first single “All Night” is produced by GroovyRoom and features rapper Sik-K. Soyou revealed that the choreography for the single is more difficult than any other dances she's ever done.

“The dance moves for 'All Night' are so difficult that even my dance crew calls it a 'breathless dance,' literally meaning you can't breathe while dancing because it's so demanding,” Soyou said during an interview ahead of her comeback.

When asked about the difference between her first and second albums, she said “If my first solo album was about proving that I can successfully stand on my own, the upcoming album is about widening my musical spectrum, incorporating different genres of music such as soul, jazz and tropical in a buffet-style.”

This album also includes five other tracks “Decrescendo,” “When I'm with you,” “Funny,” “Shadows” and “Little Moments.” The 26-year-old singer took part in writing the song “Shadow,” leveraging her ability as an artist. In it, she translates the feelings that we have all experienced about the bitterness of love so that her lyrics can connect with her listeners' experiences and hearts.

During the interview, Soyou also mentioned former Sistar bandmates, saying they haven't recently been able to get together due to their busy schedules.

“We'd been meeting consistently until April, but couldn't get together afterwards. But we continue to keep in touch and root for one another,” she said. In response to being compared to Hyolin, who also released an album in April, Soyou said she doesn't give much thought to competing against her former band mate. “We have very different ideas about the pursuit of music and musical styles. I just want to focus on my stuff.”

When asked about the pros and cons of being a solo artist, Soyou answered “The great thing about being a soloist is that I can create music that I want whereas as a band we always had to bridge the gap between various musical ideas.” However, she added that “the loneliness is tough though.”

Soyou's new album “Part.2 RE:FRESH” will be released at 6 p.m. on Oct. 4.