And I waited until the deadline day to see if you would submit it! And Dopamine probably wouldn't have been so divisive, I... eat pig slop now, I guess! At least not at Tom's Diner.
And I waited until the deadline day to see if you would submit it! And Dopamine probably wouldn't have been so divisive, I... eat pig slop now, I guess! At least not at Tom's Diner.
Scream, I always leave my supersave(s) until the last minute just in case others send my intended pick(s) and I can go for something further down my list instead. Nice try though
One down, three more songs to go. The first Twice song to exit the competition is none other than One Spark. Gag!
One Spark is the lead single of Twice's thirteenth mini album, With You-th. It was composed by Kyler Niko, Earattack, Paulina "PAU" Cerrilla and Lee Woo-hyun, with Sim Eunjee and Melanie Fontana writing the lyrics. One Spark was not exactly a hit in Korea as it only peaked at number 126 on the Circle Digital Chart. It was better received internationally as it hit number 18 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 Chart and number 93 on the Billboard Global 200 Chart. Also a fun fact about One Spark: it was originally recorded for one of Twice's previous albums, but did not make the cut. When it was selected as the lead single of With You-th, the song was re-arranged and re-recorded. Thank you, Wikipedia!
I would say One Spark (and maybe even I Got You, now that I think about it) is Twice's way of returning to the sweeter, bubblier music of their early career. It's definitely quite the shift from 2023's Set Me Free. I feel like One Spark is a more mature take on the sound that made Twice a household name in Korea. I admit it's not really the direction I would like for Twice to take which is why I didn't quite connect with it on my first few listens. I would've really liked for them to continue the sound they explored on Set Me Free. And yes, I know y'all hate Set Me Free but I don't care! I will always be a Set Me Free shooter and no one can stop me!
But One Spark really did grow on me. It's not like, reinventing the wheel or something but I think it's a really solid entry to Twice's enormous and gorgeous catalogue. I really love the chorus especially. Something about the way they sing "burning, burning, BURNING!" just gets me every single time (Jeongyeon's version especially). And that middle 8 is a fabulous explosion. I will never not live for Nayeon's high notes. They're like crack to me at this point.
I will say... at least we got the rankings of Twice's 2024 singles correct. While One Spark is good, I Got You and Strategy are even better.
THE JURY'S THOUGHTS:
@clowezra (5): "I almost gave this a 0 as it left such a sour taste for me initially, but there are so many great elements here."[Slicey: Nawt 0, oh my god!! It is NAWT that bad, unnie!!]
@eccentricsimply (5.5): "Biggest crime is this is painfully boring."
@savilizabeths (7): "It's fine??? The most underwhelmed I have ever felt by a TWICE title track and definitely the least I've ever listened to one. Cute, but far from essential and I hate saying that."
@aux (8): "It's cute - don't get me wrong - but I fear that "I GOT YOU" absolutely destroys everything else they have released after that." [Slicey: Live your truth, bestie! (I agree, kii!).]
@mika (8): "This is still not Rush, but it did brings spark in my heart and it is burning"[Slicey: Omg a fellow Rush enjoyer?? Best song on the With You-th mini, I know that's right!!]
@soratami (8): "This totally passed me by on release, but it’s very cute."
@Salami (9): "It's like Twice finally listened to my complaints and gave me two good songs this year!"
@BEST FICTION (10): "I know the forum tries to pretend this isn't amazing, but it's worked it's way up into my fave Twice title tracks. Perfect song."
@boom bazooka joe (10): "Fight me. This is their best song since Alcohol Free. I will never understand not loving this song."[Slicey: Hmmmm, as a Talk That Talk and Set Me Free enjoyer, let me keep my mouth shut, kii!!]
@Serg. (10): "I know some of the girls didn't pretend this is not their best Korean single this year ijbol..."[Slicey: Sorry, sister.....]
I wised up to be fair babes! But I can’t for a second comprehend what them nor JYP are thinking with these middle of the road, like…low key shockingly bland title tracks, they were consistently one of the most exciting groups in the game for years. The other two in the rate are much better but something is definitely missing.
For what it's worth, I'm actually surprised it went before 'I Got You'? I do in fact slightly prefer the latter, so I'm not mad, but I was under the impression the forum felt the opposite about these two songs.
A bunch of frigid hearts in the low scores. One Spark slaps. (I would say it's the worst of the 3 but I gave all of them 10's because the material was that good this year.)
I love One Spark, and as I said in my commentary, it is quickly becoming part of my favourite Twice title tracks. But (similarly to ITZY) the forced narrative that Twice is circling the drain with every comeback is prevalent here & on Twitter, so it sadly didn't stand a chance.
After three girl group songs eliminations, we go back to our OG favourite punching bags: soloists! Tonight, we say goodbye to Gyeongree's Cherry.
Cherry is the lead single of Gyeongree's first mini album, Eternal Bloom. It was composed by Lara Andersson, Fanny Hultman, Ash Milton, Dan Goudie, with lyrics written by Kim Hye Jung and Lee Ha Jin. Cherry did not enter the Circle Digital Chart but it did peak at number 66 on the component Download Chart.
Remember when it was heavily teased that 9Muses were making their long-awaited comeback in 2023? And then... literally nothing happened FFFFFFF! Scamming kweens! No but that was one of my most anticipated comebacks of the year so I was really sad that it didn't materialize. So to compensate for that betrayal loss, Miss Gyeongree decided to return to music after six long years with the single, Cherry. There's a reason why she's the number 1 Muse, and I say that as a bigger Moon Hyuna stan!
The last time Gyeongree released music that is not an OST was in 2018 with the single, Blue Moon. A few of you might remember that bop because it did compete in the #KSOTY2018 Rate and finished at a respectable number 31 position. Well, Cherry is no Blue Moon. They sound nothing alike which I think might be the reason why it isn't as popular in the subforum as Blue Moon. Still, I really can't fault Cherry. It is a more laidback sound for Gyeongree but she surprisingly sounds so at home here. I think it's the perfect soundtrack to a summer afternoon by the beach. So breezy, so cool, so fresh!
My favourite part, without a sliver of doubt, is the "che-che-che-che-che-cherry-eri" post-chorus. Every time I listen to the song, that part gets stuck in my head for hours. To nitpick slightly, I do wish the song didn't end so abruptly. I feel like it's such an anti-climactic ending. I'm still enjoying the second "che-che-che-che-che-cherry-eri" and suddenly here comes the outro already? No ma'am.
I do hope we don't have to wait for another six years to get Gyeongree's next single. I'm not getting younger, unnie, so my patience is basically nonexistent these days FFFFFFF! Release another single right NEOW! Oh and please make Cherry available on Spotify again!
@mika (7): "Cute and simple, but I did listened to it a lot"
@BEST FICTION (8): "WHY IS CHER LISTED AS A FEATURED ARTIST ON YOUTUBE?"[Slicey: Wait what's the tea? I didn't know this was a thing??]
@boom bazooka joe (8): "Lovely smooth production and the "Ch ch ch ch ch che-eh-eh-ry" refrain slaps"
@Joli Chat (8): "the music video, her chasing a cat in the middle of the night… relatable!"[Slicey: KAHSGFHKJSAF RIGHTTTT! God, being a cat owner is harder than being a US marine!]
@codecat (8.75): "We missed you Kyungri Gyeongree!! BLUE MOON being released in 2018...jail. We rated this ages ago!!! I wasn't even 25! Not groundbreaking but it's very cute and catchy and sometimes that's all one needs!"[Slicey: I needed to lie down when I realized 2018 was 7 years ago already oh my lord]
@savilizabeths (8.75): "Cherries are a key aspect of the savilizabeths aesthetic so this song is basically made for me."[Slicey: This is saur cute! I think the key aspect in Slice of Life aesthetic is the overuse of emojis... and that's really about it, kii!!]
@Ana Raquel (9): "It's no Blue Moon but it's city pop and her comeback so I am overly satisfied!!!!"
@roblognick (9): "Was so happy to see Gyeongree back. Very cute song and video."
@soratami (9): "I’m glad someone saved this one, such a lovely breezy moment."
@Vixen (9): "I know we're not judging the MV but the plot for this is sooo dumb?????? fjgfjfgk, I live for her taking her sweet time to print lost cat posters just as her cat runs away from her in front of her eyes ddd. Like girl…run after it right away! The song, though? A BOP. Very catchy. A lush piece of low-fi pop."
@Oleander (10): "Something tells me you heathens are going to do this dirty because it's not Blue Moon 2.0. That is true but it's a great song and deserves respect." [Slicey: Well... you're not wrong, kii!!]
Ah that’s a shame. I remember when this came out, I thought it must be a different soloist with the name Gyeongree because her look was so different in this video but I was so happy when I realised it was THE Gyeongree.
I too am really sad the 9 Muses comeback didn’t happen. We can always hope. I dream of a 9 Muses ALL STARS where everyone returns. I know it’ll never happen but I dream of it!