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’s new album is good. They’ve been killing their b-sides for years now, but this might just be their most consistent release yet. The fact that it’s fifteen tracks long (without the remix) is just mind-boggling. It almost makes me wish the album was given Western-style promotion, where various singles spur from its tracklist over the next few months. There’s too much great material here to go to waste.
With that said, Formula of Love: O+T=<3 isn’t the kind of album with huge, undeniable standouts. Instead, so many songs would earn an upper-8’s rating from me. This makes it hard to pick a definitive buried treasure. I’m enamored by the disco funk that’s present on tracks like Moonlight, Cruel, Real You, F.I.L.A and Push & Pull. But, I’m also blown away by the soft-rock Cactus, which finally lets the girls showcase their vocals. Throughout the entire album, they sing in such a comfortable and confident range. They’ve never sounded better.
When it comes down to it, I decided to opt for the song that feels most quintessentially disco. F.I.L.A (Fall In Love Again) boasts my favorite bassline on the album, and its disco strings, rhythm guitar and handclaps create an atmosphere that’s impossible to resist. I love the retro backing vocals, which contrast well with Twice’s icier performance. They use head voice quite often, but it’s executed in a soft, wispy manner that fits perfectly with the nimble beat.
Then of course, there’s F.I.L.A’s fantastic melody. Its chorus is catchy from the get-go, but the verses are equally well-constructed. Twice are clearly taking cues from Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, but twisting the sound just enough to fit their own color. By the time we hit F.I.L.A’s climactic dance break, succumbing to the disco inferno is inevitable.
| Hooks | 9 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 9 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Yeah, this is a really great album and I’m loving several of the b-sides. including this one. “Cactus” or the Scientist remix are probably my favorites, but I think I playlisted almost all of the tracks that weren’t in English. Say what you will about JYP, but their groups pretty consistently put out really solid albums. I haven’t taken the time to dig into TWICE’s older b-sides but this album definitely pushed them up my list.
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Yes!! I guessed right, this would be my pick as well, I can’t stop listening to it.
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This Formula of Love Album is so awesome
every tracks are so good
HELLO is you either hate or love it
The title track might not be doing well in Korea Charts but the album is one of the very best
My favourite tracks are Moonlight, CACTUS, F.I.L.A and 1,3,2
then again icons, last waltz, push and pull, rewind and Candy are good too
almost every tracks 🤣 🤣
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this was one of my instant favorites for a lot of the same reasons (the quintessential disco vibes) but this one stood out because there’s a little sprinkle of Daft Punk in the electrosynth production and it’s absolutely just magical
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Twice just doesn’t disappoint in the album department, and I love it 😩 it’s such a great feeling as a fan too, being so confident that we’ll get great album every comeback. And as in Scientist, their vocals on the entire album sound absolutely amazing.
I definitely agree there’s no definitive highlight on the album, but instead one where nearly every song is great…what a delight of an album to listen to. I think Cruel is my favourite, but I love the disco funk on all the ones you mentioned – Twice has really made this sound their own. I really like Cactus as well, and Jihyo’s production credit particularly stands out to me, with just her and a collaborator. Now that you mention it, I’m imagining a Western-style promotion with all the singles released after. From what I’ve seen, a lot of fans actually didn’t like the title track too much, but basically everyone agrees the album is stellar.
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Cruel is the winner for me too!
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This is a GREAT album. I wish it would get more of a Western rollout as well since there are quite a few songs I’d like to hear as singles (and given how prolific English is, they could have easily picked differing title tracks for Korea and abroad). Heck, even music critics are giving it rave reviews… a full 5 stars from NME and currently topping their AOTY list. Twice being so well received internationally by music critics is definitely not something the average K-Pop fan would have guessed back in 2017 or so. But album wise, they just keep going from strength to strength even when I’m not totally enamored by certain title tracks.
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My thoughts…
Twice: Formula of Love: O+T=<3 Album Review
First listen
Scientist: 9/10 [9,9,9,9]
– Love the bassline
– Extremely consistent
– Love the atmosphere of the pre-chorus
– Song could be catchier
Moonlight: 8.25/10 [8,9,8,8]
– Immediate Bruno Mars x Michael Jackson vibes
– Nice synth melody thingo in the chorus
– Very catchy
Icon: 7.75/10 [8,8,7,8]
– ‘Damn I got it, I’m iconic’ – lol
– Not rly my thing but I guess I like the vibe
– Chaeyoung rap hitting weird territory ngl
Cruel: 8.5/10 [9,9,8,8]
– Decent pre-chorus and nice chords
– Very funky bass
– Catchy
– Post chorus touch is nice
Real You: 8.25/10 [8,9,8,8]
– Not gonna lie I'm getting a bit sick of the funk but it's nice
– Oh nice synth chords
F.I.L.A [Fall In Love Again]; 8.25/10 [9,8,8,8]
– Another funk dance track
– More emotion in this one I guess
– The F.I.L.A part is pretty catchy but genre switch-up plz
– Very Jackson 5 and dua Lipa idk
Last Waltz: 7.75/10 [9,8,7,7]
– Tf
– Oh damn didn’t expect this. Thank you for the genre switch-up
– Not my type of song but I kinda like the vibe
Espresso: 8.5/10 [9,9,8,8]
– Oh beautiful pre-chorus
– Nice synth pulse in the chorus
– Damn the chorus is pretty busy
– Nice bassline
Rewind 7.75/10 [8,8,6,7]
– Ballad?
– K-drama OST?
– Giving me ‘Cry for Me’ vibes idk why – probs the melancholy vibe
Cactus: 8/10 [8,8,8,8]
– Sounds like a national anthem idk
– Pretty uplifting I like it
Push & Pull: 8/10 8,8,8,8]
– And we’re back to the funky bass
– I’m a bit tired ngl
– Good track, but nothing amazing tbh
Hello: 7/10 [8,7,6,7]
– Itzy with ‘swipe’…now Twice with ‘hello’?
– Is this NCTwice
– ngl…idm it LOL
– I don’t recommend this sound for you twice.
1,3,2: 7.5/10 [8,8,7,7]
– I think I'm just tired I shall sleep
– It's nice
Candy; 8.25/10 [8,9,8,8]
– This is sweet…lol
– I feel like I'm transported back 30 yrs with this one
– Chill vibes and nice chords
The Feels: 9.25/10 [10,9,9,9]
– Ah this is tooooooo catchy
– Will say this album NEEDS some EDM but this is definitely one of the best tracks here
Scientist [R3HAB Remix]: 9.25/10 [9,9,9,10]
– Only EDM dance track bruh….
– Immediately one of my favourite but its super generic deep house bruh
– Decent instrumental melody in the chorus
Average: 8.2/10
Thoughts:
Basically an abuse of funk and pop dance music. Not complaining at all, just wish there was more EDM. Overall a very strong and consistent album. Also, I was very generous with ratings. I still can’t distinguish between most of the tracks since they are very similar. ‘The Feels’ and ‘Scientist’ are my favourites. Glad they promoted them. I prefer their previous album since it has more instrumental complexity and more electronic influences e.g. ‘Do What We Like’ & ‘Behind The Mask’ but this one is much more consistent.
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Yeah, I personally don’t mind the repetitive-ness of the genres in the album, but I can definitely agree that, for the reasons you listed I might still prefer Eyes Wide Open at the end of the day…we’ll see how Formula of Love ages though!
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I knew this would be the buried treasure and the bassline in this song is great. But I would say there’s just too much disco tinge and softened bass and funk on this album that the songs kind of mesh into one another. That being said, this album is indeed strong with my favourite tracks being this one and espresso. Like the previous comment, I think eyes wide open justified with more diversity in genres and I prefer that.
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so true one of the best from the album alongside push and pull and last waltz imo
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This album is so good, even if a tad inconsistent. Probably one of my favorites this month, along with ABBA’s return.
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