Song Review:: Chuu (LOONA): XO, MY CYBERLOVE- XO, MY CYBERLOVE

• Release date: 2026 January 07

• Album tracklist: XO, My Cyberlove; Canary; Cocktail Dress; Limoncello; Teeny Tiny Heart; Love Potion; Heart Tea Bag; Hide & Seek; Loving You!

• Album runtime: 25 minutes

 A b-side from this album had its music video dropped either yesterday or the day before, so that's the prompting to get my distracted self to actually do this one now. I think, if I remember the last song I reviewed for her correctly, that I do like her voice. There are a couple of songs on this album that have my attention a little bit and I'm curious about, so after I finish this review, I'm likely to go and listen to some of them. 

I don't necessarily know what I was expecting from this song, but this is a lot softer than I was expecting. It was a surprise. It kind of reminds me of a less guitar focused early Taylor Swift instrumental, which is fascinating to be hearing in a new song twenty years later. I haven't been following her new music very closely since she left country music, so I'm not sure if her new stuff also sounds like that. The beat provides a stability and grounding force to a song that would otherwise be very fluffy, which I appreciate, but also doesn't fall into the trap of making the song aggressive because that would not have worked, so well done to the songwriters.

I did remember correctly that I like her voice. This is a very cute song and it feels very much like the kind of song that would be in the soundtrack of an indie film about summer friendships and love and self-discovery. Not quite a romcom, but maybe an adaptation from a Nicolas Sparks book, where you know that the summer romance won't last so there's just the tinge of sadness, but the impermanence of the thing is what makes it beautiful. I wouldn't necessarily call this a full-throated song, but the breathiness is also restricted to certain key points of the song, which is a far more practical production move than having the entire song be in that breathy style I'm kind of glad that K-Pop is moving away from.

You know, I wasn't actually too far off with how I felt the vibes of the song could be applied given what we got of the concept for the music video. It's that blend of bittersweetness that sells it for me. Also the fact that the song also kind of implies that the relationship is dead and buried, even if you miss it, is kind of genius for the concept.