June 8, 2020

[Review] TWICE - More & More

Originally I wasn't planning on reviewing this song but surprisingly, I haven't written a full song review for Twice since 2017. And even then it was a Blitz variant, so I'd say this comeback is due for a complete diagnosis.
So Twice have been on a rollercoaster in terms of their releases. They've had high highs ("Feel Special") and low lows ("Signal"). Which means whey they're clicking, everything falls together perfectly. And when they don't, it's a disaster. "More & More" takes the concept of a rollercoaster from their discography and drop it directly into this song, with a bonus acid trip thrown in. Seriously, this is easily the wildest looking MV of any Twice comeback I've ever seen. There's fake ass animals, rainbow portals, the whole nine yards. Beautiful and crazy colors everywhere. and I suppose it makes sense given the return of tropical house in yet another Kpop summer song.

The main treat of "More & More" is undoubtedly the choreography. I saw funny Twitter memes like "I got tired just looking at them" and it's sort of true. This is arguably their most intensive choreography to date ("Dance The Night Away" being the other contender) and there's a plethora of formation changes and fun stuff all around. Again, I'm not one to comment on the specifics of dance... Unfortunately, this heavy emphasis on the choreography would be coupled with a return to tropical house in the year 2020. The usage of tropical house is a double-edged sword. For starters while the instrumental is strong, the lack of a real chorus means that (a) it loses luster as the song goes on and (b) the heavier section heard in the dance break is less pronounced. As great as the dance break is, it could've been better.

On the other hand, the verses are some of the best I've ever heard from Twice. But even this has both positives and negatives as some voices sound perfect for this beat (Mina, Tzuyu) while others not so much (Momo, Chaeyoung). Jihyo keeps delivering and I continue to love her late appearances in their music. We know plenty of groups that oversaturate their songs with the main vocalist (and in some cases not even them) so I can appreciate the recent shift. Between the dance and the verses, they carry this song and I'm even willing to forgive them for ending nearly every line with English.

So how does Twice tie it all together after the impressive dance break? By having Dahyun and Chaeyoung drop one a rap sequence and...oh no. It's bad. Like, really bad. Their performance is the lowlight of "More & More" and is another instance of something that could've been omitted entirely. I'm once again getting Lim flashbacks from Chaeyoung and they're not good ones. Unlike their girl group seniors, they don't have someone like a Yubin or Jia (or even a Min) among their ranks, nor have they really shown the propensity for having good raps to begin with.

In conclusion, "More & More" has left me in that limbo between what Twice brings to the table from the good and bad. The verses are gorgeous, and complimented by an instrumental that also strengthens the dance despite the return to tropical house. Said instrumental combined with the lack of a true chorus takes away from other parts of the track, most noticeably the phenomenal dance break. And the rap is just a terrible segue into the final chorus. Sprinkle in standard English everywhere and you really do have a baseline Twice song. Whenever I revisit the Best Of Twice, I'll anticipate putting this song right in the middle of their collection.

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