Yu Seung-woo's EP “Pit a Pat’ is his first record since after he legally became an adult in Korea, but he has still maintained his cute, boyish character on the five tracks, four of which each depict a different stage of romance.

The lead track "Whatever," featuring rapper Crucial Star, is about trying fruitlessly to brush off a breakup. "Getting like U" captures the first sparks of puppy love, "45.7 cm" is about the tingling excitement of beginning a new relationship, while last year‘s hit track "You’re Beautiful" is about the joy of being with the person you love.

The fourth track, "Twenty," is an original song written by Yu about the anxiety he faces now as an adult. Born in 1997, Yu is now 20 in Korea’s age system, or 18 internationally.

”I think 20 is the age when you first feel the weight of life,“ he told reporters at a media showcase at M Academy‘s Concert Hall in Seoul on Tuesday.

”You feel alone, like you have nowhere to turn. The song expresses those feelings in a young way.

After “Pit a Pat,” Yu said he hoped to mature further in his image and in his music.

“I don’t think I‘ve been able to get rid of the ’boy‘ image yet,” he said. Yu first gained a following in 2012 with his adorable, young image on the singing competition show “Superstar K 4.” 

“I think that I can play deep, sincere music. But it would be weird for me to sing a sexy song, for example, when I have a boyish image. I’m trying hard to create a more masculine image, a more musically mature image.”

He said that he wasn‘t worried that the shift in his image would affect his relationship with his fans.

“I think that in addition to liking my image, my fans like me for my music,” he said. “They like that I sang boyish songs when I was a boy. If they are my fans, I tell myself that they will also appreciate my more mature music when I’ve grown up.”

Yu Seung-woo‘s EP “Pit a Pat” was released Tuesday. He begins promoting with “Whatever” on Mnet’s “M! Countdown” on Thursday.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)