People who know me know that I absolutely detest TWICE's summer comeback title tracks. Although they weren't featured on this blog, I consider Dance The Night Away and MORE & MORE (both of which were summer titles from the group) to be TWICE's weakest titles (alongside CHEER UP, which wasn't released in the summer). Now in their 6th year of debut, the JYP Entertainment girl group has seen improvements in their releases with I CAN'T STOP ME and CRY FOR ME, so it was reasonable for me to expect another quality title track. Boy was I wrong because with their latest EP "Taste of Love", my point that TWICE's summer titles are all sub-par has just been further proven. Without further ado, let's dive into my review of title track Alcohol-Free.
Meaning: Alcohol-Free is a love song likening the magical feeling of falling in love to getting drunk. As the song's name suggests along with the lyrics, the girls are "Alcohol free but [getting] drunk" off love and as we hear from the post-chorus, the person the girls are fawning over is described as various alcoholic beverages such as champagne, mojitos or mimosas. The song stays true to its summery roots and is a good representation of the giddiness that comes with summer love. The EP's title, "Taste of Love", further supports this idea since it could be interpreted that to the girls, love tastes free of alcohol while still getting them drunk.
MV: When you watch this MV, you'll probably be struck by how perfectly it encapsulates the summer experience. Everything is bright and fun, and when coupled with Alcohol-Free's slower tempo and rhythm, the MV gives off a super chill and relaxed vibe. If you look beyond the fact that it's a love song, the MV just makes you want to laze around on a beach chair and enjoy the summer, just like TWICE are doing. While we do get a good amount of individual visual shots as well as some scenes with the girls having fun as a group, the dance sequences take up the majority of the MV, giving us a good look at the choreography and how it matches the song's vibe. The MV's set pieces are also really beautiful and full of colour, again in line with the summery vibes.
Whether it's the beachfront drinks stand that the girls dance in front of at the start of the MV or that indoor fruit market-like set, the entire MV gives off the vibe that the members of TWICE are having fun and enjoying themselves. Even the darkest set in the MV, a primarily black room with some lighting elements and a giant cocktail glass in the background, is still pretty bright and doesn't detract too much from the overall concept. Interestingly enough, the market set does remind me of a set from ITZY's In the morning and there's a high chance it might be the same set piece just repurposed since both groups are under JYP. I also like how the MV plays around with the camerawork to create a lot of interesting transitions and we see this in shots with various members lounging in a giant wine glass while the other girls dance around them as well as the mirror house shots we get throughout the MV. Overall, while Alcohol-Free's MV isn't as dynamic as TWICE's previous titles, it still evokes summertime memories and I'm sure many will enjoy this MV.
Styling: The styling is perfect for a summer comeback, being a mix of beachgoing outfits and summer dresses. As usual, we get both dance sequence and visual outfits, with there being three different styles for the former. The first dance outfit (and also my personal favourite) is seen in the beachfront set, with the girls dressed in primarily white beach attire accented with different colours to give each member their own unique look. There are exceptions to the white theme, with Momo being dressed in a sleeveless blue dress shirt and Sana in a multicoloured tube top but the difference isn't so stark that the colour scheme is broken. The second dance outfit is paired with the fruit market set and interestingly enough, the colours actually match really well, with the girls decked out in bright rainbow summer dresses with a mix of brown and white knee-high strap heels juxtaposed against the colourful background. The last dance sequence sees TWICE in the previously mentioned dark set, with the girls dressed in varying blue tones. This is probably my second favourite of the three dance outfits because of how well it accentuates the members' visuals and also because it matches the background super well. The lighting in the dark set does have a blueish tint to it and that couples nicely with these bluer outfits.
While I do like these dance sequence outfits, I definitely think that the girls' individual outfits steal the show here. In truth, many of the visual shots see them simply wearing their dance outfits but there're those that wear something completely new and they look absolutely gorgeous. While all of them look stunning, there're members that look exceptionally amazing and the first one I'll mention is, of course, the group's official visual Tzuyu. Seriously, that one shot with her in red and that flower in her hair? If you tell me that her visuals didn't attack you on a deep level, you'd be lying because my mind was blown when I saw that. I also find Momo to have one of the better stylings this comeback. If you know me, you'll know that I'm not the biggest fan of bangs as a hairstyle and while Momo does unfortunately have bangs this comeback, I think that in this case they accentuate her visuals better. Combine that with the outfits she's given and her having long dark hair this time round, she looks far better than in I CAN'T STOP ME.
Now, the last member I'll talk about is Jeongyeon, who is returning from her mental health hiatus. While she did participate in the recording and MV for their previous comeback, she was absent from promotions and now that she's back, you can tell that she looks different. Many people have flamed her for her weight gain but while the change is noticeable, it's something that shouldn't be criticised. An intriguing styling choice is that compared to the other members, Jeongyeon's outfits are far more conservative and I could be totally wrong here but it might be an attempt to either "cover up" her weight gain or just to make her feel more comfortable being back on stage. She's also had longer hair for a couple of comebacks now and in this MV, it's no different and I think it helps because it frames her face better and if you really want to go there, it hides her weight gain a little more. It's a little unfortunate then that in the live stages, Jeongyeon has a blond bob and frankly it's quite unflattering for her new figure. Either way, great to see her back on stage.
Song: I've been praising Alcohol-Free so far. Beautiful MV, gorgeous outfits but that's where the buck stops because I dislike the song itself. My personal opinion is that songs need actual singing in a chorus, that's a small part of why I didn't like Dance The Night Away or MORE & MORE because those two had primarily instrumental choruses. This isn't a problem with Alcohol-Free but what I don't like is the instrumental. The song adopts very Latin-inspired beats, going towards bossa nova, making it extremely slow, almost hypnotically so. Granted, while that fits the chill summer vibe that they were going for, I don't think TWICE's vocals are able to carry such a sound. Something else I really dislike is that in the first verse of the song, there's this very intermittent high-pitched whine/whistle that reminds me of chimes and it's extremely distracting. The second verse also starts with this weird ascending/descending piano key sound woven into the instrumental and on top of that, we get the whine again. It's so unbelievably annoying and really takes you out of the song.
There is one part of the song I did like though and that's Dahyun's rap verse. Notice I only mentioned one of the group's two rappers because Chaeyoung's rap isn't that good this time round. Dahyun's rap on the other hand flows way better with the instrumental and of course, while not part of the song analysis itself, it helps that Dahyun gets what I consider the coolest part of the choreography during her rap (you'll know what I mean when you see it). I'll also say that Sana and Momo's post-choruses are very addictive. Are the lyrics kind of dumb with all the alcoholic beverages included? I daresay they are but it doesn't change the fact that the post-chorus does grow on you the more you listen to it. Overall, Alcohol-Free is the kind of song you would probably play in the background when you're relaxing on a beach but that's all it is, background music which you only register at the lowest levels without paying much attention to it.
Line distribution: For a 9-member group, I think that TWICE had a pretty fair line distribution for Alcohol-Free, with each member getting an amount of lines that befit their position and involvement in the group. As main vocal, leader Jihyo comes out on top with a little less than 17.9% and what I find pretty interesting about that is that after the second chorus, she doesn't actually get anymore lines but yet still has the most lines in the song. That's the power of the main vocal I guess. Usually, lead vocal Nayeon gets the most lines in TWICE's titles (emphasis on "usually" because there've been exceptions) but this time she comes in runners-up, with slightly under 13.8%. From debut till now, Nayeon's more or less considered the face of the group and is their official center, so of course she would get pushed the most. It's also worth noting that she's the only member who officially holds positions in more than one "line", being both a lead vocal and dancer. It then makes a ton of sense for her to get so much exposure and the amount of lines she gets so coming in second works for this comeback.
In 3rd place we have someone who most people probably wouldn't expect and that's maknae Tzuyu at 12.7%. Off the top of my head I don't think she's ever placed in the top 3 for line distribution but this time round, she actually gets lines in two choruses on top of other parts, impressive for a sub-vocal. As my bias, I'm really happy to see Tzuyu get more lines and here's to hoping she continues this trend. Right behind her is sub-vocal Sana at a little less than 11.4%. Not much of a surprise since Sana's never really stagnated in terms of line distribution rankings but this time round, the increase in her lines can be attributed to her not only sharing both post-choruses with Momo as well as having chorus lines. Sana has had chorus lines in the past with SIGNAL and LIKEY so it's not a new concept for her but I think there's another reason why she got a chorus in Alcohol-Free, which I'll explain later.
Dahyun and Mina are tied for 5th place with around 10.5% each, and just by listening to the song, we could figure out that both members didn't have a lot of lines. Lead rapper Dahyun gets lines in the second verse as well as her aforementioned rap (which is one of the better parts of the song) whereas sub-vocal Mina gets lines in the first verse as well as some other short lines here and there. Even though they don't get too many lines in this song, the two girls definitely shine in their own aspects, with Dahyun's sick rap flow and Mina's sensual vocals. In 7th place we have main rapper Chaeyoung at a little over 8.7% and again, just by ear you can figure out she doesn't have many lines in this song. In recent titles, Chaeyoung's been moving outside of purely being a rapper and steadily singing a little more so maybe we'll see her get more lines in future. I'm actually going to skip ahead to last place Momo who has a little under 6.8% and this was really easy to figure out. She only has really short post-chorus lines and one pre-chorus line so I think we could all figure out that she would have the fewest lines. Momo's always had weaker vocals compared to other members because she's made to sing in a nasal tone and this comeback is no different so her having as few lines as she does is a given.
The last member I'll talk about is Jeongyeon, who comes in 8th place with 7.25%. It's easy to criticise JYP for giving her so few lines, considering the fact that she's not only lead vocal but also has been getting a bunch more lines in recent titles. Let's not forget that Jeongyeon has just returned from a long hiatus and probably hasn't even recovered fully yet (both mentally and physically) so it would be a mistake to give her too many lines too soon since she might not be able to cope. I mentioned earlier that I would talk about Sana's chorus lines again and this is why. It's highly likely that in an ideal world where Jeongyeon never went on hiatus, she would either get Sana's chorus or Nayeon's second chorus, befitting her status as lead vocal. Of course, the priority should always be the idol's health and wellbeing so it was a good move on JYP's part to give fewer lines to Jeongyeon, giving her more time to get better first.
Final thoughts: Alcohol-Free marks the return of all 9 members of TWICE and has been highly anticipated by ONCE (fandom name) and casual listeners alike. Unfortunately, the song just isn't my style and only serves to reinforce my idea that their summer titles are low quality. I had a discussion with a friend of mine about the song and he stated that the song sounded a lot more Western, evident of the group trying to make their way into the Western market. Considering how long TWICE have been around, I guess it makes sense for them to start becoming more global (outside Asia) but at the same time, I fear that they might be going down a path similar to Wonder Girls, where they went global too early and died out locally.
Alcohol-Free is definitely a song that might appeal to more Western listeners but it's just not my style. Regardless, I'm glad that the full group is back and hopefully, they'll continue to grow as some of the top idols in the industry and with luck, their next few comebacks will be better. Thanks for reading.
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