TWS – Page 2 – KPOPREVIEWED

[Album Review] Sparkling Blue (1st Mini Album) – TWS:

June 23, 2024June 23, 2024Posted in Album Reviews, KPOPTagged TWS2 Comments

With TWS: making their comeback tomorrow (!), I thought I wrap things up related to TWS: debut back in January this year. And with their debut single plot twist and follow up single BFF reviewed, that leaves the album review. Now, I know I made promises to review the pre-release Oh MyMy:7s in the usual song review format. But after considering whether to write the album review or that review (and with their second mini-album in mind), I chose the former to keep things moving along. All three songs are featured on the mini-album Sparkling Blue, which also features 2 additional side tracks (taking the total number of songs to 5).

As a debut mini-album, Sparkling Blue is probably one of the strongest first steps I have ever seen. You have a super trendy title track that has attracted a lot of attention and resulted in a lot of fans. The side tracks on the album introduces us further to TWS: via a consistent wholesome and youthful manner. As such, Sparkling Blue has also become one of the strongest album releases of the year, thus far, in my books. The best bit of the mini-album is that it gets me excited for what is to come for the group. And excitedly, we won’t need to wait for long to find out.

1. plot twist (만남은 계획대로 되지 않아) (Title Track) – Click here for the full review for plot twist. (9/10)

2. unplugged boy – Usually, an all-English song becomes part of a KPOP group’s repertoire later in their career. But TWS:’ all-English unplugged boy pushes this boundary by being present on this debut mini-album. unplugged boy is a really pleasant vocal track from the group. The instrumentation goes down an alternative pop route, with hints of playful and youthful vibe throughout the track. I really like the smoothness that the members and melodies work together to bring out in this song. Things just glide along in unplugged boy and I liked that effortless listening experience that the song brings about. (10/10)

3. first hooky – first hooky turns up the upbeat dial a few notches. It is another pleasant side track from TWS:, but the track takes us down a groovy and retro-like motif with its synth work. Further to that, I really enjoyed the fact the members sang so fondly of playing hooky (skipping school) for the first time, that the rapping really captured the groovy vibes well and the “Maybe, I really wanna kick it with ya” is quite a catchy hook. But the best part of first hooky has to be its bridge. I always find Kyungmin and Youngjae’s vocals in this part to be so decadent. I just find the melodies in first hooky to be slightly weaker. But that is a minor drawback in what is another amazing side track. (9/10)

4. BFF – Click here for the full review for BFF. (8/10)

5. Oh Mymy: 7s (Pre-Release Song) – Oh Mymy: 7s is actually the one song on the mini-album that feels like it channels modern and contemporary trends, resulting in a track that is more focused on its accompanying performance. Bouncy bass with percussive synth work was the dominant and most prevalent sound in Oh Mymy: 7s, but we also got some atmospheric backing for the pre-choruses, and fulfilling and brighter synth work following the choruses. The good thing is that they all meld together to create a cohesive track. The vocal work and rapping were good, but more riveting material have emerged since this pre-release track. The chorus probably is the most lackluster part of Oh Mymy: 7s. It sounded good the first time around and ended up catchy for a while. But on this occasion, repeat listens since January (on this occasion) have made it unexciting and bland. (8/10)

Overall Album Rating – 8.8/10

[Review] BFF – TWS:

May 25, 2024Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged TWS1 Comment

As you may be very well aware, I have a massive backlog of releases to get through. A very large subset of these are songs are side tracks from the album they were on, selected to be a secondary promotion track or just have a music video. Some may even be pre-releases. I will have to make my way through that list. And I am beginning with TWS’ BFF. BFF is a side track off TWS’ debut mini-album Sparkling Blue, which was lead by the title track plot twist and was released on 22 January 2024. An album review is incoming. TWS released a music video for BFF mid-February.

In plot twist‘s review, I mentioned their debut track had youth charms and was a successful attempt at ‘boyhood pop’. BFF continues both, bringing us another track full of youth and vibrant energy. I really like the whistling at the start of the song, which sets the song’s main melody in place. However, BFF‘s pop instrumentation isn’t as dynamic as their title track and actually feels a bit generic. If I am being honest, BFF basically feels like any other youthful pop tracks that boy groups have done time and time again. That being said, BFF holds its ground well, allowing TWS: to deliver the song in a manner that definitely shows off their youthful charms and vibrant energy (more on that in the performance portion of this review). TWS:’ vocals and rapping was quite nice in BFF, which is where I felt the vibrant energy in the song the most. I also like how it wasn’t held back in anyway at any point in the song, which helps pushes said energy onto the audience. The song’s melody feels catchy yet familiar, and I put the latter down to the fact BFF sounds like ‘any other youthful pop track that boy groups have done time and time again’. The boyhood pop side of things comes through via the song’s lyrics, which is all about a long-lasting friendship. Altogether, you have a pretty good track that undoubtedly continues TWS:’ first steps into the KPOP industry in BFF.

The music video shows TWS: as teenagers in a school setting, an obvious concept for the ‘boyhood pop’ style that TWS is exploring. Some of the video was shown in mobile phone format (i.e., camera or Instagram reel), which I thought was rather cool. Not really a new idea that we have never seen before. But like the rest of the video, it feels refreshing. And once again, I like the all-smile energy they bring to the music video, which makes it appealing to watch.

Again, the energy of this track is directly reflected in the stage performance. It makes for what looks like quite an involved routine. But I like how bubbly and dynamic it all looked, which is a testament to the group’s performance. The use of the school desks was pretty cool, and I liked the all-smile energy that also comes through the performance aspect of this comeback, as well.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 8/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 8.2/10

[Review] Plot Twist – TWS

February 13, 2024Posted in KPOP, ReviewsTagged TWS6 Comments

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