TWICE dropped their new album "With YOU-th" on Friday, capping a long comeback season which saw multiple Twicehub idols releasing new songs. Since the start of the year we've had comebacks from NMIXX, ITZY, VCHA, Yena, and now TWICE.
There were a lot of great songs amongst the slew of new music, particularly from NMIXX, who seemed to have gained a lot of praise for their album "Fe3O4: BREAK". A pre-release track from it, "Soñar (Breaker)", even topped my list of favorite songs released in 2023. So when their older sister group TWICE released their own well-received pre-release song "I GOT YOU", I came into the album with some hopeful expectations.
ITZY released their album "BORN TO BE" the week prior to NMIXX's comeback, with multiple pre-release tracks, notably "BORN TO BE" and "Mr. Vampire". Much like other hype songs such as ITZY's "Voltage", "BORN TO BE" immediately hooked me with the shouty vocals and energy buzzing throughout it. And though "Mr. Vampire" didn't reel me in as easily, I at least appreciated how it sounded. Given the two pre-releases, I was looking forward to the group's title track "UNTOUCHABLE", so it was disappointing that it didn't catch me like I had hoped. While a bit of a let down, it's still okay as ITZY's title tracks are pretty hit-or-miss for me.
Fast-forward through the month and we get VCHA's debut "Girls of the Year" which ended up being just okay. However, TWICE's "I GOT YOU" released the next week and it ended up being amazing. I had it on repeat for the longest time until I got sick of it and had to alternate it with other recent releases including IVE's remake of "All Night".
Like NMIXX's and ITZY's pre-releases got me hyped for their albums, "I GOT YOU" likewise left me excited for TWICE's. I enjoyed "With YOU-th" a lot on first listen aside from the title track, "ONE SPARK". The song was more "UNTOUCHABLE" and less "DASH" than I had hoped.
Looking through reactions and reviews to the song, it seems like many people felt similarly about "ONE SPARK" as I did. Long time Kpop reviewers like Aaron Freeman, Asian Junkie, and Kpopalypse all reached the conclusion that while "I GOT YOU" was pretty good, "ONE SPARK" felt like it was missing that one spark which would make it better than its pre-release companion. Opinions on Reddit also leaned towards the notion that the b-sides were superior to the title track. Even the music review site NME said that "I GOT YOU" overshadows it, and that the title needed multiple listens to better appreciate it. Interestingly, it's that last bit that ended up resonating with me the most.
On Monday, TWICE released several variants of "ONE SPARK", including an English version, which I had to immediately check out, being a ONCE and all. Suddenly the song clicked for me while listening to it and I've frequently left it on repeat since, including even now as I write this article.
The song never vibed with me even after listening to the album multiple times and loving every track aside from "ONE SPARK" (I ended up repeatedly skipping it after awhile). Yet now I'm addicted and don't want to go without it.
Ultimately, that's how it sometimes goes for Kpop fans. We won't like a song at first but we'll come back to it later only to end up finding ourselves really into it. It happened to me with IZ*ONE's "La Vie en Rose", Kep1er's "Galileo", and now with my fave's "ONE SPARK". And that's perfectly okay.