TWICE's new album sweeps music charts

K-pop girl band TWICE perform during a press conference introducing their new album "TWICEcoaster : Lane 1" at Blue Square in Hannam, Seoul, Monday. From left are Jeongyeon, Dahyun, Mina, Sana, Nayeon, Momo, Jihyo, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu. / Courtesy of JYP Entertainment

By Kim Jae-heun

TWICE, JYP Entertainment's leading K-pop girl band, returned with its third mini-album "TWICEcoaster : Lane 1" on Monday, sweeping the online music charts immediately as tracks were released on Sunday midnight.

"We were on our way back to Seoul from Busan yesterday when our album was released online," said Nayeon during the press conference at Blue Square in Hannam, Seoul. "But we were so tired, we all felt sleep and did not see it get released at midnight. So when we checked the online music charts at 1 a.m., we all screamed after witnessing our title track making it to the top."

The girl band returns six months after its last album release although it never felt as if they were even gone for long as the members made consistent TV appearances on various programs. However, they said that it still came as a big burden to release new music after their first two albums achieved such a success.

The music video of TWICE's previous title track "Cheer Up" included in the second mini-album became the K-pop band's record that hit 90 million views within 179 days on YouTube since its release in April. It is estimated to penetrate 100 million views before November which their agency sees as a symbolic number as the band will celebrates its first anniversary of its debut.

TWICE members Tzuyu, left, and Jeongyeon, perform during a press conference at Blue Square in Hannam,
Seoul, Monday. / Yonhap

"We are also amazed by the record and we still can't believe it. While preparing our album, we thought about the reasons why people give us so much support and love. Then, our new album came out. We decided to continue showing our energetic and bright characteristics as we have expressed in previous title tracks such as, Like OOH-AHH and Cheer Up," said the group leader Jihyo.

The new album consists of seven tracks including the title "TT." TT is another song by Black Eyed Pilseung, who produced the girl band's two title tracks and hit songs Touch My Body and I Like That of Sistar from Starship Entertainment. The genre of this song is pop dance based on a deep house beat with catchy and addictive hooks about a girl's love story.

The album's second track "1 to 10" takes its inspiration from 90s R&B music that harmonizes with drums, bass and acoustic guitar in a laidback style but in a fresh and bright way at the same time.

Jelly Jelly, listed as the fourth track on the album is another song that TWICE performed during the press showcase. The song has a strong pop sound in uptempo beat filled with deep Moog bass and synthesizer sounds, which maximized the cheerful mood.

"This is our third time working with Black Eyed Pilseung. He knows the strength of all nine members and tries to bring best out of each member's character in his songs. His songs are generally energetic and bright and they fit us well," said Jihyo.

Meanwhile, asked if they were conscious of another girl band I.O.I, whose comeback topped the music charts recently ― especially because their chief producer Park Jin-young wrote the girl band's title track and Somi is a former member ― TWICE said they were happy for I.O.I.

"Producer Park does not only write songs for us but for many artists in the company and Somi is our good friend since we were all trainees," said Jihyo.

"When I.O.I's title track VeryVeryVery was released, we danced to it because the song was so good. We all gathered to watch them perform on TV," said Sana.

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