THIS IS FOR

In their first decade as a nine-member K-pop girl group, TWICE became masters at exploring new facets of their concept without ever losing the unwavering cheerfulness that defines it. For <i>THIS IS FOR</i>, TWICE’s fourth full-length album since their 2015 debut, the third-generation squad slides into a comparatively subdued cool-girl persona to explore overlapping themes of female empowerment and romantic frustration, artfully navigating the space between K-pop’s “girl crush” and “bubblegum pop” false binary.

The cool-girl persona is especially on display in <i>THIS IS FOR</i>’s title track, a high-energy song that starts with a chuckle and a shout-out: “This is for all my ladies who don’t get hyped enough/If you’ve been done wrong, then this your song, so turn it up.” TWICE makes room for feelings of otherness on “THIS IS FOR” before using the synth-pop bop “MARS” to expand on the theme: “Do you ever feel like/You don’t belong in the world?” The tale of tested confidence continues in the rolling rhythms of “G.O.A.T.,” a subunit song that has members Mina, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung comparing themselves to a phoenix rising from the ashes in the aftermath of a breakup: “Got me on a roll, yeah, I breathe fire/Try to bring me low but I go higher.”

Released in TWICE’s 10th year as a K-pop group and in the immediate aftermath of the JYP Entertainment squad’s successful contributions to the <i>KPop Demon Hunters</i> soundtrack, <i>THIS IS FOR</i> sees the group also preparing for their This Is For world tour. The 14-track, mostly English-language album includes five subunit songs that fit particularly well into a high-energy set list as an opportunity for non-participating members to rest. In addition to “G.O.A.T.,” they include “BATTITUDE” (Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, and Mina), “DAT AHH DAT OOH” (Sana, Jihyo, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu), “LET LOVE GO” (Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, and Tzuyu), and “TALK” (Nayeon and Jihyo).

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