A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. Sometimes, b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve.
Twice have entered an interesting stage of their career where their music has become almost freakishly consistent. It doesn’t take many risks, nor does it boast the offbeat energy of their best material. It’s just straight, down-the-middle bubblegum pop that delivers every time.
Depending on your perspective, this could either come across as thrilling or monotonous. I fall somewhere in the middle, leaning closer to “thrilling.” Their new album is another collection of airtight bops. There’s not a bad song on there, yet nothing stands out as a career highlight either. Of the b-sides, New New comes the closest.
Twice execute frothy dance pop very well, and New New finds its sprightly energy immediately. Its verses aren’t much to rave about, but once the song climbs into its propulsive chorus, resistance is futile. Chirpy synths accentuate a pounding house beat that compliments the rhythmic repetition of the melody. It’s feel-good pop music at its most concentrated, which is what we’ve come to expect from Twice.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
they really are the most consistently good girl group of their generation, at least music-wise.
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I prefer the chorus of “you get me” but yeh, this is pretty nice
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My favourites are between Rush and Bloom, but all four B-sides are pretty nice! I definitely agree with you that its almost scary how consistent Twice had been lately haha
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As far as I know, Collapsedone co-produced this song, right?
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My favorite album tracks are Bloom and You Get Me, closely followed by Rush. But on such a great album even the ‘least favorite’ song is top notch.
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This album has truly been a joy to listen to. New New is definitely a favorite, i find the song cute & is classic TWICE.
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they can make a full album with collapsedone and i wont complain
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Collapsedone is such an underrated kpop producer. Definitely my favorite one.
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I don’t think any kpop group comes close to TWICE in terms of seamless transitions to mature and poppy sounds like this song. Favorite bsides from the album for me are Rush(that bass drum and the Jersey Club??) and You Get Me.
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Even on the positive notes I still disagree with most of these reviews, I’d say Bloom and Rush are easily up there with some of there best songs imo
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Maybe an album needs one subpar track to highlight just how good the other songs actually are. 😹 Aside from More & More and its corresponding EP, Twice hasn’t had a miss in their title tracks or an EP or album that hasn’t been equally solid and a great edition to their discography since Fancy. I even like Set Me Free quite a lot even though the overall K-Pop community seemed against it. It had me worried they were going into a static direction, but this whole album is proof that Twice can own bubblegum pop in just about any genre thrown at them.
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This is subjective obviously. But ever since Can’t Stop Me, just about, I haven’t been a huge fan of their title tracks but their albums just keep on getting better and better. Honestly, ever since Fancy era their albums have just been so good, but Alcohol Free for me was the turning point from ‘consistently good’ to ‘consistently amazing’. This mini lives up to that, of course, it just feels so cohesive and I love every single track.
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