Review

Song Review: Twice – This Is For

Posted on by 44 Comments

Through popularity and persistence, Twice have amassed one of the largest K-pop girl group discographies out there, and that’s set to balloon even further with the release of a new album and solo tracks from each member. The album may boast a robust track list, but most of the songs’ running times take their cue from our truncated TikTok generation of pop music. New title track This Is For is a paltry two minutes and eleven seconds. With nine members to squeeze into that time frame, is there really enough song to do justice to their ability?

The answer, of course, is no. This Is For feels like a few decent ideas in need of expansion. It’s quite dull for the first forty seconds or so, mining the same early-Y2K vibes we’ve heard ad nauseum over the past two years. This sound has long since worn out its welcome and feels reductive for a group as accomplished as Twice. However, things improve from here. The percussion grows more exciting and even more attuned to the turn-of-millennium era it seeks to replicate. I heard this exact same beat in so many pop and R&B tracks back in the day. The thing is, it was almost always paired with stronger melodies than This Is For‘s sing-chant centerpiece.

Structurally, there’s not much to hang your hat on here. Just as the song is beginning to gain its footing, it’s finished. It’s like one long build without any payoff. Technically, the chorus is repeated three times, but due to its placement at the beginning of the track there’s a sketch-like emptiness to This Is For. Everything before the final third of the song is extraneous, which should not be the case in a song this brief. I would have kicked things off with the full groove and grown from there. As it stands, the musical storytelling feels flat and unsatisfying.

Hooks 7
 Production 8
 Longevity 8
 Bias 7
 RATING 7.5

Grade: C

44 thoughts on “Song Review: Twice – This Is For”

  2. it’s TOO SHORT to explore any of its ideas and i thought its central hook was weak. i never expect twice to be boring but surprisingly that’s what i got here.

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  6. Easily a 9,5 or 10 for me. Gorgeous song and super catchy. Love the retro vibe as usual but it sounds so fresh and fun. A step up from Strategy and their best single since Talk That Talk. They finally have a really catchy chorus again. That was missing a bit in songs like Scientist, One Spark, Set Me Free and Strategy.

    I rank this among their best singles, in line with I Can’t Stop Me, Talk That Talk, FANCY, TT, Likey, What Is Love, Feel Special, Cheer Up, Fake & True, Breakthrough and a few others. The only negative for me is that it’s too short.

    The album is insane! They totally went off with the sounds. I’m highly impressed. They did a lot of new stuff here, while they managed to stay true to their own created sound. It honestly is a brilliant album. They are such a steady and versatile group. I love how they keep evolving after being 10 years in the business. That’s very rare in K-pop, especially among women groups.

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    • Couldn’t disagree more that songs like Scientist, One Spark, Set and Free, and Strategy miss catchy choruses. I think we might be listening to different songs.

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      • No we didn’t listen to different songs. It’s called having a different taste. I like One Spark, Strategy, Scientist, Set Me Free and Moonlight Sunrise but I felt they were a step down from their greatest singles like I Can’t Stop Me, Talk That Talk, FANCY, TT, Likey, What Is Love, Feel Special, Cheer Up, Fake & True, Breakthrough etc.

        However the chorus of This Is For give me the catchy vibes of old. It’s short yes, I want it to be longer too, but on the other hand it’s not weird for girl groups to have shorter songs. Many soul and R&B groups from the 60’s and 70’s have great short songs.

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  9. A shockingly underwhelming for a TWICE title track, there’s no memorable hook to be found and is more of a filler track that doesn’t go anywhere interesting. Really disappointing song for a group as big as TWICE, JYPE really let them down

    Liked by 2 people

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  10. The song is pretty good. Not their best but still pretty good. Won’t expect a lot for them.

    The album itself is pretty good, the only setting it back from being their best album is how the runtime felt short, and it seems that none of the members contributed to the writing of any other songs.

    The title track is abt 8.25

    The album is 8.5

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  11. The whole album is quite good, a no skip. However, JYP gave them some short songs, which isn’t big news in kpop nowadays I guess lol

    Even though it’s short, it’s a banger. I also love the message. This is what we need in kpop; actual lyrics, not some lalalalaladadadada. 8-8.25 on me, I’m sure it’ll grow. Great album (I fear no album can top With Youth and also Feel Special) my only issue is that it’s not long enough. Wish there was a bridge, but then again, it’s not Twice’s fault, and they served hard. It’s a very nice upgrade from those cutesy little bubbly like concepts I keep seeing in kpop. Unique. Short, but unique

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  14. THIS IS BAD

    However the album has many great tracks, it’s crazy how all the tracks after This Is For are good (Mars, Right Hand Girl!), diverse and fun. I guess it’s the title track curse trying to impress and wow with cool effects and a “modern” sound.

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  17. i’ve been tapped out of the promo cycle and when i first saw this i thought it was an english prerelease like moonlight sunrise — in that case, the runtime seemed okay. but is this the title track of a full comeback, with not a single word in korean? and if so, doesn’t it feel kinda small-scale for one of the biggest GG’s ever? (hard to feel grand when it’s so short, i guess, but even the MV seems like it has lower ambitions than a lot of twice’s best)

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  18. I stayed up late yesterday just to listen to this song and when I realized it was so short it was kind of disappointing. The production is pretty much what everyone has been doing in K-pop for about 3 years, so it doesn’t impress me much, but I hope the album has more interesting songs.

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  19. I think it is actually okayish, however the vocal could be louder. More emphatic. More let’s all have fun together fan service.

    If they just made the chorus as a chorus louder -not cheerleader, but maybe mimic “Girls generation makes you feel the heat!” They could also have made room for a call-and-response like Beyonce’s Who runs the world! Girls!

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    • I hate to keep bringing this movie up, but with all the momentum from Kpop Demon Hunters I bet Twice is trying to continue to break more into Western Markets. Not a bad strategy, but they could have released a stronger track.

      Liked by 3 people

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      • I think this has been their strategy (i.e. Strategy) for a while now, and this comeback was in the works way before the unexpected success of KPDH. It’ll be interesting though to see what effect KPDH will have on labels’ decisions going forward.

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    • Well they just got a lot of foreign fans. In Korea they always treat older group like trash so I get it. Even when the trend was to adapt a western sound to get more fans abroad TWICE was probably the only major superstar act to stick to real K-pop. It’s something music critics have been saying about them for years now, for example: With much of K-pop’s success in the United States being attributed to most Korean acts employing either hip-hop or EDM as their sonic base Billboard has noted the success of Twice in making their bubblegum sound attract Western appeal.

      This release brings something new but it also has the true TWICE sound all over it; a retro bubblegum sound. I like they fact they keep doing different stuff.

      I do hope they will make Korean songs again too though. It’s what made people fall in love with them in the first place of course.

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  21. Good track, but only just passable as a TWICE track. Granted, I didn’t immediately jive with One Spark, but the emotion and energy of the vocal eventually won me over bigtime… not sure I can expect the same here.

    For now, I agree with others that the chorus should have had more punch (they’ve got the members to do it!) and the song was too short to have to take too long to grow.

    7,7,8,9 = 7.75

    I’m excited to listen to the album though per the comments here.

    Liked by 1 person

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  22. twice are my ults and i will always appreciate what they put out. i’m saddened to see a full-length album get reduced to many songs under 3 minutes, but it is honestly a no skip album for me (favorites so far are Options, Battitude, Talk, and Heartbreak Avenue).

    as an enjoyer of hype songs, i actually quite liked this! not as good as their previous title tracks, but still catchy and great for the summer time. i also like all it’s hyping “all my ladies” instead of just themselves like we’ve seen with recent hype/bad ass songs (ex: Famous by ALLDAY PROJECT and Dirty Work by aespa).

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    • The ones that immediately came to mind were:

      Jordan Knight – Give It To You
      Kandi – Don’t Think I’m Not
      INOJ – Time After Time & Love You Down

      But I’m sure there’s tons more I’m forgetting.

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  25. this is personally my favorite of the “hype songs” released as of late, but the song is way too short. i always say this about these songs, but a good bridge could help bring the energy up and tie the song together better.

    the album itself has beautiful songs that are nice and cohesive together. even though the songs are pretty short, they managed to do what this is for didn’t quite achieve (i.e. mars, options, & g.o.a.t).

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  28. A usual late TWICE title track – so beyond the feeling of déjà-vu, the marvel of the excellent production. The voice & beat works are remarkable.

    Jeongyeon’s facepalm is because of the lack of bridge btw. There was so much room for it imo.

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