TWICE came back with their recent extended play “Between 1&2” on Aug. 26. The K-pop girl group consists of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu. At the beginning of the year, TWICE held their fourth World Tour which meant no new music was being released. When their official Twitter account announced their new EP, ONCE’s (TWICE fans) were thrilled.

The entire EP aesthetic is retro with 2000’s style clothes, hair and sounds. “Talk that Talk” is the title track of the EP, and from the instrumental to lyrics, fans said “This is K-pop.” It’s a refreshing feeling K-pop fans haven’t heard in awhile, yet TWICE succeeded and made a good song. The title track has references from their older music, and ONCE’s were excited to call that out. “Talk that Talk” lyrics are about wanting people to say what’s on their minds. 

“Basics” written by member Chaeyoung is the third song, and it has a fast-paced beat listeners can dance to. Jihyo and Mina have a short English rap which shocked  fans. These members don’t rap but did an incredible job and made this song well loved by fans. Chaeyoung stated the meaning of the song is to know one another before diving into a relationship. The second song on the track list is “Queen of Hearts” giving a rock genre and lyrics that speak about women empowerment and not needing someone to bring them down, and thanks to them, now they are something bigger, aka queens. The powerful meaning of this song is a huge plus but TWICE vocals make this an amazing hit.

“Trouble” written by Jihyo is the fourth song on the EP, and the lyrics talk about two people being pulled to each other but it is dangerous. This song would do well at parties as it has a fast-paced beat.The fifth song “Brave” starts with a lower melody and a different vibe from the other rock and pop beats. The lyrics talk about having someone who makes you stronger and brave. The lyrics are nice but the way the nine girls sing shine through and light up the mood.

 “Gone,” written by Dahyun, is the sixth song on the track and ONCE’s looked forward to another amazing hit by Dahyun, as she has written songs for TWICE albums before and didn’t disappoint with them. Hearing TWICE’s deeper voice is not common, but with this song, it brought a new side and ONCE enjoyed it. “When We Were Kids” is the seventh and last song on the EP. Dahyun wrote the lyrics for this as well. This song is more sad than the rest as it talks about wishing to be kids and native again. Even with the sad meaning, the song is beautiful.

Each song has its own special parts that leave ONCE’s happy and show who TWICE is. With love stories about TWICE’s love for their fans to incredible music to dance to, it leaves “Between 1&2” a five out of five stars. 

Not only is TWICE good with their vocals but they also excel writing lyrics. Even with trying different genres, TWICE shows they can take a challenge and make beautiful music.