Review

Song Review: Twice – Talk That Talk

Twice - Talk That TalkWith their recent contract renewal, Twice have beaten K-pop’s “seven-year curse” and established themselves as one of the longer-running girl groups within the industry. Fans have plenty to celebrate, and the group is ready to provide the soundtrack without much delay. The aptly-titled Between 1&2 acts as a bridge between stages in Twice’s career, and its title track Talk That Talk feels like a well-timed endorphin rush.

Since 2020, the group’s music has leaned harder toward lush synth sounds. Songs like I Can’t Stop Me and Scientist work as the perfect evolution of their debut-era charm. Their music is still pop with a capital “P,” but it feels sleeker and more effortless. True to form, Talk That Talk’s ebullient instrumental is absolutely brilliant. Its synth and percussion forge a driving beat that becomes more syncopated during the chorus. It gets funkier than I expected – especially when the bassline is pulled forward in the mix. I’m pretty smitten with the song’s bold energy, which matches the upbeat nature of other recent girl group standouts.

As expected, Twice deliver a strong performance to match this bubbly production. The melody is varied enough to spotlight individual charms within the members’ voices, melding the powerful with the breezy during its two-part chorus. The hooks explode here, egged along by that ultra-rhythmic instrumental. Talk That Talk‘s verses are more conversational and include a sprinkling of the chanty Twice-isms we’ve grown accustomed to. But, the exclamatory moments aren’t overplayed. And, Twice have certainly earned the right to revel in the sound they helped popularize over the past seven years. I’m not sure what’s in the water this month, but we’ve got another mega-banger to add to the August playlist. I’m not complaining!

 Hooks 9
 Production 9
 Longevity 9
 Bias 9
 RATING 9

45 thoughts on “Song Review: Twice – Talk That Talk

  1. Not sold on the “tell me what you want – tell me what you need”, but the rest of the song is good and I particularly like the choreo.

    Need a dozen more listens to see if it can rival Can’t Stop Me, but my gut tells me no.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I’ve loved this type of sound ever since I was young, so seeing one of my favorite girl groups releasing a song like this made my whole month. Talk that Talk is a certified banger and I feel so bad for misjudging it because I thought it would be a ‘Twicified’ Itzy song just by reading the song’s title.

    Also question, how many songs are on the August playlist so far?

    Liked by 2 people

    • I mean, I have a gazillion songs on my playlist at any given time. But, there’s been like a dozen 9+ rated tracks over the past few weeks. It feels like a drought has suddenly ended!

      Liked by 4 people

      • I put 2 tracks by NewJeans in that category too – Attention & Hype Boy. Those have really grown on me. And they really sound great on playlists, a nice change-up to everything elose.

        Liked by 1 person

    • On an unrelated note, I’m listening to the album and it’s sounding promising too. “Trouble” though, like I was vibing to it then you know. I’m at the stage where I want to strangle any songwriter/producer who upends a perfectly good song with a needless, distracting momentum-killing trap-rap break

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  3. I LOVED every second of it. I don’t see any girl group (or boy group) singing this, it feels like this song was made just for them.

    with that being said, my ranking for the August girl group war would be FOREVER 1 > Talk That Talk > After LIKE >>>>>> Pink Venom

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  4. When I say I want a song that makes me feel good, this is what I want. And wow, this album is a banger, jaws wide open with Basics. TWICE is the only group that can surprise me with each comeback consecutively for years. They’ve earned every right to release this bop.

    Liked by 4 people

  5. The start of the song felt weak but then POW the chorus came in. Girl Groups are on a roll releasing incredible music one after the other. I need boy groups to do the same. This song is amazing

    Liked by 1 person

  6. man the top 3 this month is gonna be a BLOODBATH: even if #1 is set, who knows what 2 and 3 will be :O

    this song is fantastic! and i don’t even like twice that much normally — their stuff tends to be a bit too sugary for me, but this is great.

    Liked by 3 people

  7. One thing that confuses me a bit is the chorus sounds separated into two dissimilar parts. The first part shows powerful energy for their main vocals and the other draws cute charm for softer voices (typical killing points of Sana?). It can be a new creative approach when I normally listen to the transformation between verses and choruses. The bridge this time doesn’t catch my attention much, wish it would jump higher straight from the bouncy chorus. Generally, such a great song, and the best title track from JYP this year so far.

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  8. Oh. My. GOD! This is crazy good. I actually cried lol HAHA. I set my alarm because the song came out at 6am here. I’m a very happy ONCE. TWICE has quantity and quality. I just love it. I really feel like they want to build a musical legacy. The QR code leads to their Instagram post where they first called us ONCE btw 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  9. I love me some good chorus ! THAT CHORUS BANGS. I SAID IT. IT BANGS HARD. one of their best title track so far. definitely one of the highlight releases of this year. even that ‘hyped’ ( i wont mention because if you know, you know ) song couldn’t match the energy of this.
    also, THE MINI IS SOLID 10/10. Formula Of Love still hold their best album
    Twice truly has evolved into a real artist. Im excited to see what they have in the store for the future.

    10/10.

    Liked by 3 people

  10. Sana’s part in the chorus already had me in the teasers, and the full song did not disappoint! A perfect balance of fierce and sweet. And I absolutely love the gaming concept. I feel like this will easily become one of my favorites.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. I am always here for new twice songs, especially for one as enjoyable as this!! glad they’re continuing to develop their discography, this is excellent Pop Music

    I wonder if there’ll be any bsides highlighted? I really enjoyed trouble!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. By the teasers I wasn’t expecting it to be this good, the album has some goods songs too!
    Thinking of doing a top 5 for August?
    Can’t believe is almost ending and we keep getting bops, and I’m not complaining
    Also, did you heard Youha’s new album? There’s some good stuff there

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    • Regarding Youha, agree with you. Last Dance is such a bop🥵
      Especially that late 2000’s vibe, which makes the song feel refreshing🤤

      Like

  13. Its so good 😭 Twice is so consistent man, I’m on vacation and woke up early to listen to it…can’t wait to check out the mini later (which from what I’ve heard is solid once again)!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. As usual, Twice sold the hell out of this song. I love it. But for me, something about the chorus feels kinda…awkward. As a result, I can admit that it didn’t quite grab me as much as, for instance, Fancy or I Can’t Stop Me. Still, I feel that this one will definitely grow on me.
    8.5/10

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  15. I was smiling the whole time as I listened to this! The song was so pleasant and the girls were super charismatic and their vocals as bright as always ! ❤ I won’t say this month was better than the last one for me as a whole, but there have certainly been some knockout songs this month – Replay, After Like and now Talk That Talk.

    Girls groups are really shining this month and I’m looking forward to that Billlie cb at the end too! 🙂

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  16. This is thee TWICE song! The music video was great, Jihyo and Dahyun were the ones who really got my attention. This that song that doesn’t need much simmering to like, when you listen to it, you’ll eventually get dancy, and maybe even sing along to the LOVE part. Love their powerful vocals, choreography, tune, and theme. I’m loving every release of these number girls’ music, and they never disappoint. with their contract renewal, I’m expecting more members to pick up the pen and do magic, because I know each of them has the potential. (I know they already did wrote/co-wrote in the past but I want more, and maybe produce soon). They have come so far and continuously improve; I love them for that. To those who aren’t really into the cheerful side of K-pop (which is where I identify TWICE), and still appreciate this song, thank you so much for giving it a listen.

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  17. a 9?????? this is a 7 on a good day. i listened to it about 3 times and still can’t recall what it sounds like, that’s how generic it is.

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  18. I like it! It doesn’t hit as hard as some of my Twice favorites but that chorus is great. I think the verses are a little weaker in comparison so it’s not as strong as it could be personally.

    Brave however…… 👀💯👌

    Liked by 1 person

  19. I usually love Twice songs but maybe this isn’t my cupe of tea, I mean I like it but it’s not a banger in my ears. I still have to listen to the album, here we go.

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  20. Yeahhh!! that typicalllll twice sounddd.. 🙂
    And please don’t tell me you didn’t like BLACKPINK’s typical song but you are having good reviews for obvious sounds and typical concepts in twice’s sound tracks..?? Just stop being biased … If you write reviews that are meant to be published for people please let them be less biased…
    Ps no hate for twice but i just cant stand such biased columns or reviews😐

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    • Excuse me. You may be a Blackpink fan but their discography doesn’t come close to Twice’s. Twice has a large, very varied discography. Both groups have a signature sound but Blackpink has much less variety in their discography. Twice has incorporated many different genres into their singles and there is even more experimentation on their albums.

      For some reason fans always treat Blackpink’s songs as the best ever, the small number of singles usually bring little variation. Only Playing With Fire, Lovesick Girls and As If It Was Your Last brought something new and something that doesn’t sound soulless or musically uninteresting. However, their success is admirable and the members manage to sell the material in great fashion.

      And where all other acts with great success in the west use EDM or hip hop as a basis, Twice knows how to score with their characteristic bubblegum pop sound and choreography. They don’t adapt to the western audience but let the western audience like their sound. That alone makes them unique. Their target audience is not even the west and yet they score there.

      The members of Twice are really committed to their music and have evolved over the years. They stay true to their roots and try new things at the same time.

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  21. I like the song. Maybe an 8-8.25 for me as I’m not that fond of the chorus. But, there some other songs in the album that I thoroughly enjoyed a lot more like Trouble and Queen of Heart.

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  22. Twice has this uncanny knack for releasing music that’s sugary without being overly so. There are sickeningly sweet songs by other groups that I love, but if I’m not in the mood for bubblegum, I’ll skip right over them. I don’t usually find that to be the case with Twice’s music, and I think it will hold true for this song as well. It definitely feels like a Twice song, and that’s not a bad thing at all, because I tend to like their music a lot – I’m glad they’re sticking around! Not only is the song great though, the album’s super solid as well. Good stuff!

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  23. I haven’t been able to catch up on Kpop over the last few days so I just listened to this song. I think Twice is my favorite girl group now. They have an incredibly consistent and consistently catchy discography. Until SNSD’s comeback, Formula of Love was the last album that I really fell in love with (minus Hello…we’ll forget about that one). While I used to favor groups like Red Velvet, ITZY, and Blackpink, their music hasn’t been up to the same standards in the last couple of years.
    Twice has this infectious energy in their music that I can’t help but love. Their dedication to nu-retro has been a breath of fresh air since they released I Can’t Stop Me back in 2020. Their style has matured as has their music, which actually makes me like them more. I didn’t really care for their earlier music, but ever since Fancy they’ve just flipped a switch to become something better than they were before.
    Is Talk That Talk a better song than I Can’t Stop Me? Maybe not; I prefer ICSM’s punchier beat and the chorus is catchier to my ear. But TTT is a welcome addition to a fine discography, further cementing Twice’s legacy as the most prolific 3rd-gen Kpop group.

    Like

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