By way of recognition and persistence, Twice have amassed one of many largest Okay-pop lady group discographies on the market, and that’s set to balloon even additional with the discharge of a brand new album and solo tracks from every member. The album might boast a sturdy monitor listing, however a lot of the songs’ working occasions take their cue from our truncated TikTok technology of pop music. New title monitor This Is For is a paltry two minutes and eleven seconds. With 9 members to squeeze into that timeframe, is there actually sufficient music to do justice to their capacity?

The reply, in fact, isn’t any. This Is For seems like a couple of first rate concepts in want of growth. It’s fairly boring for the primary forty seconds or so, mining the identical early-Y2K vibes we’ve heard advert nauseum over the previous two years. This sound has lengthy since worn out its welcome and feels reductive for a bunch as completed as Twice. Nonetheless, issues enhance from right here. The percussion grows extra thrilling and much more attuned to the turn-of-millennium period it seeks to copy. I heard this very same beat in so many pop and R&B tracks again within the day. The factor is, it was nearly at all times paired with stronger melodies than This Is For‘s sing-chant centerpiece.

Structurally, there’s not a lot to hold your hat on right here. Simply because the music is starting to achieve its footing, it’s completed. It’s like one lengthy construct with none payoff. Technically, the refrain is repeated thrice, however on account of its placement originally of the monitor there’s a sketch-like vacancy to This Is For. Every part earlier than the ultimate third of the music is extraneous, which shouldn’t be the case in a music this temporary. I might have kicked issues off with the total groove and grown from there. Because it stands, the musical storytelling feels flat and unsatisfying.

Grade: C