Having their start in 2015, the 20th of October will mark TWICE’s 10-year anniversary since their debut. To celebrate, they have released a 10-track special album 10 days before their anniversary ‘TEN; The Story Goes On’. Featuring one group track and nine individual full solo tracks for each of the members that have been available in snippets on YouTube for three months. Going from the cutesy, wholesome girl group of the 2010’s to the female-empowerment performance powerhouse we know them as today, trying to tell which direction TWICE were going to take to celebrate their decade long career together was hard to decipher. But I found through my multiple listen throughs that it was a balance of both.
ME+YOU
‘ME+YOU’ is the lead track on this album and is the only song fans had never heard before upon release. With an old K-Pop vibe, the song is definitely R&B while keeping the influence of their signature Pop sound. As the song continues it feels more and more (pun intended) like a TWICE song when Momo and Chaeyoung rap in the TWICE style and the vocals start to overlap to become a unit of 9. Instead of taking the angle of making this song about their fans as they have in the past, TWICE finally allow themselves to make it about their relationships with each other, sending the message of the girls’ strong friendship and bond they have grown in the past 10-years.
MEEEEEE
Nayeon was the first member of TWICE to ever debut solo in 2022 with ‘POP’ and released her second solo album last year, so as an idol with a well-known solo sound already I think that ‘MEEEEEE’ fits perfectly with her other songs. Taking part in the lyric writing and composing ‘MEEEEEE’ is a fully English bass heavy party track that is extremely catchy, so I have found myself singing “don’t play with a girl like me” on repeat much like everyone was ‘pa-pa-pa-pop’ -ing back in 2022.
FIX A DRINK
Jeongyeon’s solo track ‘FIX A DRINK’ is a first in many categories; it’s the first bit of Korean we hear in the album, it’s her first solo song and its TWICE’s first ever county track. I don’t think there was really any other contender for this genre than Miss Joo Jeongyeon herself. Her voice fits the genre perfectly with her mature-soft style, so getting to finally hear her vocals stand alone is a blessing. I hope that JYP now seriously considers a Jeongyeon solo project after hearing her hold her own this song and watching her control the stage performing it at the ‘THIS IS FOR’ tour
MOVE LIKE THAT ❤
After hearing this track, I would really appreciate if someone could tell me how on earth Momo got the reputation of ‘bad vocalist’ because while ‘MOVE LIKE THAT’ has obviously been produced to be performed, the vocal duality of Momo in this song is nothing but that of a woman who has been doing this for 10 years. Finally exploring her deeper natural voice along with her controversial ‘put on’ higher voice this song sounds like a duet with just one person that makes you feel like you’re in a music video even if you’re just in your room.
DECAFFINATED
Sana is an idol with a strong brand that can be shortened to one word: cute. From her iconic ‘shy shy shy’ to her affectionate tendencies she is known for being a living sunshine. While people do love Sana for her energetic cuteness, she’s not 18 anymore and her energy on stage has grown and in recordings have matured along with TWICE, and ‘DECAFFINATED’ shows us who Sana is now she is 28. Upholding her signature sweet voice for majority of the song expect during the post-chorus when the song takes a mature turn before returning back to its sweeter verses, much like how we have seen her personality switch between concepts.
ATM
For the past 20 years, Jihyo has been perfecting her craft. Mixing her honey-like vocals with a fun vibe track creates ‘ATM’ a song with a confusing analogy about people coming back to her like they come back to an ATM to collect money but nonetheless another song to add to the collection of songs that show she can sing circles around the new generation. It joins the same club as multiple newer TWICE songs do, following the confident lyrics about their successes we also see in ‘ICON’. It is quite refreshing to hear a K-Pop group being able to brag about their accomplishments with the numbers and awards to back it up.
STONE COLD ❤
I am going to be honest, I did not listen to the snippets of the songs on YouTube before the album was released so I can remember my reaction to all of the tracks very well, but I can remember my reaction to 'STONE COLD' the best, and I all I said was 'Oh my God' on repeat. My favourite track on the album, I was not expecting 'STONE COLD' from Mina. While the title of the song reflects peoples first impression of Mina, the song is fiery and almost feels like you are being raptured while listening to it, contrary to the 'Mina the Ballerina' image people typically know her for the song is still elegant but also bulky and dramatic. I cannot stop listening
CHESS
Dahyun's solo track 'CHESS' samples Beethoven's 'Für Elise' and is probably the one track on the album that is not my taste, due to the sample. The almost haunting whisper of the pre-chorus is Gorgeous and definitely one of the highlights of the song. I find the chorus to be a let down compared to what precedes it. As someone who loves the TWICE rapping style, the rap is another highlight of the song and a good change from the aforementioned chorus. Still, the song finishes strong as it breaks down and returns to the whispers.
IN MY ROOM
'IN MY ROOM' is a hyper-pop track, very popular currently, Chaeyoung's style has always been very unique and a little 'weird' which makes hyper-
pop a genre that matchers her to a T. With heavy vocal effects, you can barely tell that it is Chaeyoung's very distinctive voice. 'IN MY ROOM' feels like the child of Chaeyoung's
solo project and her role in TWICE ending in a song that sounds like it came from pinkpathers' song vault. This is one of those songs that you would show your friends to try to convince them to get into K-Pop and it would work.
DIVE IN
'TEN: The Story Goes On' is concluded by the youngest member; Tzuyu and I think that along with 'IN MY ROOM' this track is the
most non-K-POP fan friendly track on the album. An all-English song about being in a relationship with blurred boundaries and not being able to tell if it is love or lust, it is a song that you can listen to in moments of frustration when you want them to be soundtracked by a Taiwanese diva., Before listening to 'DIVE IN' I am a little ashamed to say I may of underestimated Tzuyu's ability to hold a solo track as I did not tune into her solo project but know I definitely will.
For the past 10 years TWICE have reinvented themselves over and over again and have never once fallen out of the publics favour. This album is a celebration of managing to stay together in a brutal industry and the members individual talents. Now they signed another year contract to JYP earlier this year it is safe to say that TWICE is not going anywhere as they truly are 'One In A Million'.
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