Keeping up with K-Pop: “Talk that Talk” and walk the walk with TWICE’s latest album, “Between 1 & 2”

Imagine a prominent movie from your childhood. For me, when I think of movies that I grew up watching, I picture movies from the Y2K era, such as “Mean Girls” or “Legally Blonde.”

This era has had a huge impact on my life, and wherever I see something stemming inspiration from it, it is guaranteed that I will be a huge fan, no matter what it is. 

K-Pop has recently seemed to be heavily inspired by retro styles of music. With each release, an old era is modernized, and given a K-Pop twist. This helps in making the songs unique and in a league of their own.

K-Pop girl group TWICE has burst onto the scene with their latest album, “Between 1 & 2.”

If a Britney Spears song met the Spice Girls, with an Austin Powers-inspired true crime music video, that is the vibes that the lead single, “Talk that Talk,” gives. 

This song stands out, showing a more mature version of TWICE. The song has strong feminist energy, with the message being that they will not wait around for people who are uncertain in love anymore. They know what they want, and no longer are they “Shy, Shy, Shy.”

The song sounds like you are on an undercover mission, on the hunt to find your perfect love, someone who will “Talk that Talk.”

While the instrumental is simple, with an almost tropical synth beat sounding like an old computer booting up, it helps you focus more on the lyrics.

When the chorus finally hits, the computer has fully loaded, and the music becomes vibrant. The music is suddenly overcoming the ear with passion and that unique Y2K sound that has you wanting to immediately add this song to your iPod to show all your friends. 

What really hits the spot in the chorus is when you get to the confident vocals, to the lighter tone of member Sana who has the hook of the chorus, “Talk that talk, just one word, talk that talk L-O-V-E.” 

With the lighter tone, it makes you feel like you are in a lucid dream, and then you are quickly snapped out of it when the consistent beat comes back in while the members start to rap, and exude the confidence of the more mature TWICE. 

Despite this song being one of their shorter releases, with its length only being two minutes and 57 seconds, it somehow does not feel like the song is rushed at all. Once it ends, you immediately want to hit replay again to keep the vibes going. 

However, not all of the songs on the album are light and fun. Some songs, such as “Queen of Hearts” and “Gone”, feel reminiscent of the ever popular rock genre. 

Hearing a more rock-inspired song shows listeners that TWICE are not the girls they used to be seven years ago. They have evolved, and are ready to have listeners evolve with them.

TWICE really lets their emotions out in these songs, with guitar and strong drum beats taking the lead on all these songs. As well to these powerful instruments, the members of TWICE sing in their lower register, which exudes fierce, sharp energy. 

This same fierce energy is prevalent in the songs “Basics” and “Trouble,” which are more of the typical pop sound that listeners are used to. These two songs have a strong house music feel, which makes you just want to put both songs on blast. 

The lower rap stylings of Chaeyoung on “Basics” really hit the spot. While I wish I had some unique words to write about this song, I am always just too busy being enamored by the song to form a thought. 

Needless to say, “Basics” is my new favorite TWICE song. 

It would not be the Y2K era without a cheesy song to end everything out, having you think about what you believe is “Between 1 & 2” as you reflect on the past.

“When We Were Kids” sounds like the perfect ending credits song to your favorite movie. It has a lighter and uplifting tone, almost motivating you to do something, and make a change in the world. 

The perfect end to an almost perfect album. 

While this album is an amazing work from TWICE, it seems like at times it is lost in trying to find its own sound amongst all the inspiration that was used to create it. 

For some songs, it feels like too many genres are trying to be pushed onto listeners. It can overwhelm the senses and takes away a little bit from the music at hand because you are too busy trying to figure out the style of each song. 

Nevertheless, TWICE still delivered with this album, and after a long wait, it was well worth it. 

Now, if you do not mind me, I’m going to go back to the “Basics,” and am going to keep playing that song on repeat.