Fifteen years into a career that began with SISTAR – the K-pop girl group that dominated Korean summers through the 2010s – SOYOU is still finding new ground. Off Hours, her latest mini album, is a shift not just in sound, but in how she approaches making music altogether.

The record is built around live band instrumentation – a departure from the polished, production-driven work she's best known for. It's a choice that changed everything, including her voice. "This doesn't sound like usual SOYOU," she says people told her after hearing the recordings – and she takes that as a compliment. The most telling moment came during the session for album track "Conversation," when she arrived at the studio having lost her voice overnight. What could have derailed the recording ended up defining it. That rougher tone, she explains, blended naturally with the band sound and gave the track more mood than a cleaner take might have.

The title track "Girl" anchors the album's identity – a relaxed, unguarded portrait of time spent alone at the end of the day. SOYOU wrote the lyrics herself, something she flags as the album's biggest highlight. Where earlier in her career she says her music was shaped by what the public wanted, Off Hours is oriented differently. "I want to keep challenging myself with music styles I haven't tried yet," she says, "so I can feel that I'm still growing."

That confidence runs through the record, and she's clear it reflects where she actually is. Younger, she says, a single negative comment could genuinely hurt her. Now she moves differently; it shows in the music.