TWICE are ready to start the next chapter of their career. The nine members of the Korean girl group are established titans of K-pop, but Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu are seeking out new ways to connect with—and surprise—their loyal fanbase.
The group debuted in 2015 after the members were selected through record label JYP Entertainment’s competition survival show, Sixteen. TWICE’s songs “Cheer Up” and “TT” became global viral hits. The group has released seven studio albums and 12 EPs, and in South Korea they have been dubbed the “Nation’s Girl Group.”
TWICE released their twelfth EP Ready to Be on March 10; the upbeat pop album features seven tracks, two in English. The group is now preparing to embark on their biggest world tour to date, stopping off in the U.S. and Canada from June 10 to July 9 after performing in South Korea, Japan and Australia this spring.
Courtesy of TWICE
The group tells Newsweek they are excited to perform normally in front of fans again after years of disruption because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We always thought that meeting fans with our new album was a given,” Jeongyeon says, “but the pandemic made me realize that it’s not something that we can take for granted. I realized how precious our fans are.”
Sana agrees, adding that releasing new songs and performing on TV during the pandemic was tough without fans. “We did a lot of pre-recordings for music shows but our fans were not allowed to attend. Before, there were times when it was really hard to perform but we were able to do it because of our fans. So not having them there was pretty difficult during the pandemic.”
In 2020, the group’s “Twicelights” world tour had to end early due to the pandemic. Their fourth world tour “III” came with difficulties of its own, Chaeyoung says: “At that time cheering was prohibited. But this time it’s different, the fans are allowed to cheer, so it’ll be the first tour in a really long time that we perform with that as the backdrop, and I’m really excited.”
The group is keen to forge new memories with their fandom, who collectively are called “Once.” Nayeon says,”I’m really excited to make up for all those lost years due to the pandemic and make it up to our fans.”
Courtesy of TWICE
The release of Ready to Be is the first step. The mini album features English pre-release single “Moonlight Sunrise,” as well as “Got the Thrills,” “Blame it on Me,” “Crazy Stupid Love,” “Wallflower” and “Set Me Free,” which was recorded in both English in Korean. TWICE made their first English track “The Feels” in 2021.
Nayeon says, “The fans really responded well to ‘The Feels.’ They loved it, so we wanted to release an English single once again, and we felt that ‘Moonlight Sunrise’ sounded better in English.”
Recording “Set Me Free” in English and Korean gives the song more universal appeal, Jihyo says: “We wanted to reach out to more global fans with our songs. So, I think it’s our attempt to reach out to them.” She adds, “We tried to carry the meaning in both languages.”
Dahyun describes “Set Me Free” as “a very progressive song” with “a very powerful groovy bassline.” She says the group had to put together “a really strong and cool performance” for the video.
“When you see our music video, the storyline is about how we break out of our shell, out of the mold, and really reach out for freedom,” she says. “Our fans are familiar with our made-up faces, our really gorgeous made-up faces, but in the music video we [don’t wear makeup] and it represents how free we are.”
Putting it all together wasn’t easy, Mina says. “I would say the recording part was the biggest challenge. We had to record it again and again under the direction of Mr. JYP [J.Y. Park], our producer, and it was really not easy to express our emotions in these songs.”
“I actually sang the verse, and the producer wanted me to sound a little bit sexy in that part of the song,” she says. “But that part is also very low-pitched, so it was really hard to try to sound sexy and also focus on my singing at the same time.”
For Chaeyoung, the biggest challenge was making the “Set Me Free” video, because of its tough choreography and the conditions they had to perform in. “When we were shooting the music video,” she says, “there was a group dance scene which was shot outside, and it just happened to rain that day, and it was also very cold, so that was the most challenging part for me.”
Tzuyu, though, found that exhilarating. “It’s been a while since we shot a music video outside,” she says, “so that was both difficult and fun, and the final result of the music video was really good.” The singer, who is the youngest member of the group, adds, “I also love the songs of this album, so I really hope our fans like it as well.”
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Jihyo says the group hopes Once likes the new record as much as TWICE does: “We tried to cover as many diverse genres as possible in this album, so it’ll be really fun to listen for our fans,” she says. “Dahyun also wrote the lyrics for two songs, so that’s another thing that you can look forward to.”
Dahyun penned the lyrics for “Blame it on Me” and “Crazy Stupid Love.” She says, “When I first began writing the lyrics it was not easy, I didn’t know which words and what message to express. But, so far, I have written 10 plus songs, and it’s gotten a lot easier, and I am very satisfied with the two songs that I wrote this time around.”
The nine members are relaxed as they speak over Zoom from South Korea, the time difference and TWICE’s busy schedule means they are talking with Newsweek at night and are dressed casually, having apparently finished a day of rehearsals for their new album’s promotions. If they are tired, they don’t show it. After almost eight years in the industry the group are well versed in dealing with long hours and a demanding schedule and are gracious and warm as they speak about their new record.
One thing they are hesitant to discuss in too much detail is their forthcoming world tour. Starting in April, the first part will take them to five countries up through July, with more to be revealed soon. The members of TWICE say they’d love to speak more in-depth about their plans, but can’t give too much away. Jihyo says, “The fans will be really surprised, I can promise that, but it’s a secret.”
“The scale of our tour got much larger,” she says “We’ll be performing [in our] biggest stadiums yet, so we are really excited to meet such a huge number of fans in one setting.”
Momo says the tour choreography is “quite fresh,” and Chaeyoung adds, “We can say that we’re preparing something very challenging for us, but it’s also a surprise so we cannot say anything about it right now. But I guarantee it’ll be a great surprise!”
Thanks to groups like TWICE, the world is truly tuned into what the K-pop industry has to offer, but even with the ever growing appetite for the genre, Jihyo says that TWICE aren’t intimidated. “Rather than feeling pressure in these times, in these great fortunate times, we are more grateful and appreciative than anything of how a lot of people love K-pop right now. Of course, it’s important to make efforts and to strive as artists, but we think it’s more important to share our energy and who we are with as many people as possible.”
There is one thing that helps with that, Momo says, “We know each other so well that we don’t need to even speak anymore. We just kind of look at each other and know exactly what the other is thinking. We’re at that point right now where we just know what we’re up to. We love it, it’s easy for us to work as a group.”
The near future will see TWICE venture into new territory, Chaeyoung says, as members of the nine-piece will be making solo music and dividing into subunits for different projects. The first will be from the group’s three Japanese members, Mina, Sana and Momo.
“[The three of them] are planning on working as a unit in Japan, so that’s something that’s very new in our next chapter,” she says. “For the last seven years we worked as a group, but I think we will show more unit performances going forward, and also solo projects, like Nayeon’s album [IM NAYEON], so that’s something we’ll do in the future.”
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