For the last few months of last year and so far this year, I have yet to cover any new debuts on my blog. I will slowly get around to reviewing those new debuts that I have missed over the coming weeks. One of those new groups starting out is Pledis Entertainment’s latest male group (and their first since SEVENTEEN’s debut back in 2015), TWS. A 6-member group, TWS stands for Twenty-Four Seven With Us and consist of Shinyu, Dohoon, Youngjae, Hanjin, Jihoon and Kyungmin. They debuted with the single Plot Twist, a pre-release single titled Oh MyMy:7s (which I will return to review another day) and the mini-album Sparkling Blue back in January of this year.

Described as a group who will be tackling “boyhood pop”, Plot Twist is just that. A very noticeable youthful vibe attempts to sweep us off our feet in Plot Twist. And for the most part, it is successful. The vibrancy, refreshing energy and pop influence is definitely all there and instantly apparently in Plot Twist. I really like the pop rock tinge that the song does carry in its backing, and how the song incorporates ‘plot twist’ in its backing to create a dynamic title. The different percussion definitely keeps the track lively and every sequence is slightly different to what we hear earlier in the track. The members sound great, with solid vocals and rapping from them all to pull off Plot Twist. And the vocals and rapping do help bring that youthfulness to life. However, I do feel like the single could have benefited from being longer, just to give more opportunity for us listeners to sink our teeth into it. As it stands, it feels like a brief introduction to the group that highlights the potential of the six members as a unit, but there isn’t anything in Plot Twist to make the member standout themselves. The 2.5 minutes of run time just doesn’t allow that opportunity and I feel like that might be an untapped resource to really help TWS kick off their careers. Overall, I really like Plot Twist and the final product. But I wished there was more to the song to let the members shine.

The music video and lyrics of the song depicts the excitement and nervousness of meeting for the first time. I like how the video and lyrics depicts both the idea of first meetings in the context of friendship and potential relationships. But I also like how the video also serves as a first meeting between us and the group. In the video, we see the members draw up a checklist that includes three lines: 1. Say Hi, 2. Strike up a conversation and 3. Awesome first impression. While our first meeting with the group was successful and all three items on the list should be checked off, I did like the humour in the video, with the members putting a question mark around item three, right after one of the members falls on the train and tries his best to recover from that. I also liked the group’s depiction of the school boy concept. This concept has been done countless times in the past, but it definitely feels refreshing for this video.

One thing they really made sure they showcased in this debut is their choreography skills. This performance was amazing to watch and I am in awe in everything they did. It was sharp, lively, fun, energetic and a whole lot more adjectives that might take us a while to get through. It suits the song and its youthful vibe so well. There wasn’t really a particular moment that stood out to me as the entire routine did that instead. Definitely a group to watch out for on the stage at the very least.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9.5/10