Greatest Hits:: TWICE: One Spark

 This was actually the first TWICE song I liked, and I wouldn't have heard it if it hadn't been for a cupsleeve event where I live. And I figured I probably should listen to some of the songs before I went. I listened to three or four that didn't really spark my interest, pun absolutely intended, and then this one played. And I went "Oh? Okay. I've got my song." I've had a bee in my bonnet about this song for a couple of months now, ever since I saw a video compilation on YouTube about the person's worst songs from 2024. No, I will not be sharing it. Think of this as in the classic tradition of scholars responding to each other by writing their own disagreement papers, like during the Enlightenment. And also Cope and Marsh, the two paleontologists who engaged in the Bone War back in the 1800s, but a lot less vitriolic than that. No smear campaigns and no dynamite will be used. There were at least three other songs on there that also sent me into a bit of a tizzy of disagreement, two of which I will definitely be covering later this year, possibly next year. I have to wait for one to turn two. I had one of them originally slated for July, and then I changed my mind. Another I won't be touching until the group finishes with enlistments and we actually get some more full group performances of that song. Kind of mid, my foot. This was the mildest of that person's responses to the songs that riled me up. 

TWICE debuted in 2015 as a nine-member group under JYP Entertainment through a survival show called Sixteen, which is amusing because of Seventeen, which also debuted in 2015 with their own survival show, and neither of them ended up having the number of members the survival show was called. They're considered one of the biggest (in numbers) and biggest (in sales) K-Pop girl groups, and they're still going pretty strong after ten years.

One Spark was the title track from their thirteenth mini album, With YOU-th, released in 2024. The lyricists are Sim Eunjee (Stray Kids, Xdinary Heroes, IU, ITZY, GOT7, NiziU, DAY6, EVNNE, Chung Ha, miss A, Baek A Yeon, Golden Child, Kwon Jin Ah, 15&, STAYC, Wonder Girls, KickFlip, Lovelyz, Apink, Kyuhyun, f(x), SHINee, Jamie, Lee Hyori, Sinae, SSAK3, WJSN, KARA, INFINITE, 2PM, Gain, Sungjae, TAN, Jo Kwon, Purfies, J.Y Park, Sunny Hill, and TRIANGLE) and Melanie Joy Fontana (BTS, BLACKPINK, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, i-dle, Enhypen, CLC, Seventeen, LOONA, Everglow, Sunmi, Bini, &TEAM, IU, I.O.I, Secret Number, Minzy, Blackswan, bugAboo, Girls' Generation, IVE, Hyolyn, fromis_9, Close Your Eyes, Rania, Fiestar, AOA, Oh My Girl, f(x), Ailee, AOA, KiiiKiii, BerryGood, and Melody Day). The composers are Kyler Niko (LE SSERAFIM, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Enhypen, EXO, BABYMONSTER, GFRIEND, Seventeen, aespa, Monsta X, P1Harmony, &TEAM, The Boyz, JO1, ASTRO, IVE, NCT, ZEROBASEONE, Junhee, INI, Kep1er, Verivery, 1THE9, NEXZ, EVNNE, SF9, Cross Gene, Jo Yuri, ATBO, Cravity, Ghost9, Younite, SAY MY NAME, MCND, Golden Child, Super Junior, OWV, Drippin, iii, TO1, Vanner, Dignity, and Tempest), earattack (BTS, ITZY, Stray Kids (My Pace), Nayeon, VCHA, GOT7, I.O.I, VVUP, Seventeen, Kim Jong Kook, Boy Story, Chani, Monsta X, NOWZ, NiziU, ALICE, RESCENE, JBJ, Ailee, AB6IX, Pentagon, Stella Jang, 8TURN, SISTAR, Jeong Sewoon, BTOB, BXB, Younite, Onew, Ghost9, Purfies, Mighty Mouth, Jessi, Raina, and Weki Meki), Paulina Cerrilla (LE SSERAFIM, XG, GFRIEND, aespa, IVE, NMIXX, WJSN, VIVIZ, Cherry Bullet, Jo Yuri, tripleS, Kep1er, OWIS, Ailee, fromis_9, Girls' Generation, Primrose, APOKI, Say My Name, and STAYC), and Lee Woohyeon (VVUP, Younha, NOWZ, BamBam, Lee A Young, Hui, Park Bo Gum, APRIL, and The NuTs).

• Group: TWICE
• Debut Date: 2015 October 20
• Company: JYP Entertainment
• Status: Active
• Album: With YOU-th
• Song: One Spark
• Release Date: 2024 February 23

Mid, my foot.

Now to try to articulate why this is a good song, actually (at the risk of sounding like Andy Farrant over the older Resident Evil games).

With YOU-th is their thirteenth mini album, released during their ninth year of being idols. That's thirteen title tracks, not counting any pre-release singles or promoted b-sides nor any singles or full albums nor any foreign language tracks, in less than nine full years. 

That's so much music. 

And with how many hits they've had, it can almost feel like if a song isn't a national landmark, it's a failure. One Spark never won anything, but, as is the case with many songs, not winning anything doesn't mean it's not a good song. Instead, it was a song that was rearranged into a title track from its previous b-side status. 

"Bring me the, bring me the spark in my veins/Give me the freedom, the freedom to chase" goes part of the pre-chorus. From a rookie group, a song about sparks and freedom would be a song of ambition and hunger, of flaring brightly enough to be seen and remembered because you never know when your flame will be snuffed out in a fast-paced and merciless industry like K-Pop. Sparks are fragile. From veterans like TWICE, it becomes a love song for family and friends and for yourself. 

The song is a delightful combination of bright danceability in a minor key, which is echoed in the music video. There is a lot of light in this music video between the candles and the chandeliers, but it's certainly not a bright music video with the depth and amount of the shadows present. The only time we don't get a lot of darkness is during the white tunnel, but even then, most of their outfits aren't bright white either. Most of them are in creams and off-whites which has the added benefit of standing out well in the other set they wear those in. 

The other set reminds me of Vegas back in the 50s, and it took me a while to figure out that it also reminded me of old school Broadway and vaudeville with this specific bulb lights. There's a theatricality to this music video. It starts with candles, chandeliers, and candelabras, early forms of stage lighting that harken back to plays and operas (I'm specifically thinking of Phantom of the Opera with its famous chandelier, which I know is a modern piece, but the book (which I've read in French as my first major piece of literature, before I transitioned to children's novels because I can't do things like a normal person) is old and it's set back when open flames were used). Then we transition to the round bulbs and still with the chandeliers, which move the timeline forward. Then, on the bridge, we get proper stage lights that are used in modern performances, and fireworks which are also incredibly old but are a staple. 

2:36: "TIMELESS" indeed.

The song itself, bright and warm and energetic, has a weight to it that keeps the song from thrumming like a hummingbird or like a rookie group desperate to prove itself. Part of that is the instrumental, but part of it is the vocal layering. It's gorgeous. Whoever did the audio engineering and producing on this song needs a raise.

Listen underneath the one actually singing during the pre-chorus starting at 1:17. I know that's hard because they've got amazing vocals, but focus in on the depth. Sometimes it's the line or part of the line sung underneath the main melody, but sometimes we've got some hauntingly beautiful straight vocalizations, even when the energy in the instrumental starts to kick up a little bit right before the chorus. They're not ad-libs, but they have the same function to expand the sound and add richness. It's the equivalent of adding a stick of butter to your chicken soup with bone broth you've made from boiling the chicken for six hours. Was it delicious before? Absolutely. Is it better now? Of course. 

Holy wow that fanchant is loud. Well done, ONCE.

As always, we're going with Music Bank because we've got names with the lyrics and that way I don't have to have a third window open with the lyrics, color coded or otherwise. I only know three of them by sight.

First of all, I have to give massive props to the set designers. It's giving real Winter Queen Dance, and it's cute. More importantly, those butterfly wings at the back frame whoever is the center unbelievably well. It does require some camerawork though to get the framing right, like at :39 when Mina leaves the rest of the group. The camera follows her so that at :43, she's perfectly positioned to have those wings behind her.

I love how much time Tzuyu and Jeongyeon get with this song, with the added benefit of getting to see them because they're gorgeous. Their stylists need a raise as well. I love the little peek window on Jeongyeon's top and the high-low thing she's going on with her skirt. And Tzuyu has puff sleeves, which is predictably enough to make me go a little feral over them. We can blame Anne of Green Gables for that love. Momo has some too, but they're not as magnificent as Tzuyu's. Her puff sleeves are fabulous and paired with a very sleek skirt which gives her a great silhouette.

And Sana's ending fairy is adorable with her little giggle at the end. 

Here we've got a one-take performance from Inkigayo. 

Dahyun's double cheek heart at 1:48 is adorable. I just wanted to point that out first.

I love the specific style of skirt that Momo and Jihyo have on with this stage, because, and I don't know why I have this particular association with it, but it makes me think of warrior priestesses. Jihyo especially looks incredible.

The entire group's concept here is kind of apocalyptic chic, which is kind of a funny contrast to how much the stage looks like the plastic crowns you give to kids that I definitely one hundred percent did not have a hot pink one of. 

At 2:46, it almost looks like Tzuyu is very close to stepping off the stage on that side. I'm not sure that she is, because I think there's more stage over there and I can't imagine that she wouldn't be aware of the edge of the stage. Also, I can't imagine that the stage would be that small. But this is a nine-member group. It's probably just me worrying over nothing. 

This was their performance on the Today Show. 

They're in the red outfits and I'm delighted by this. For some reason, they just scream vintage.

The camerawork wasn't great about picking out the member that's singing and there were some really interesting choices there, but you do get a pretty good look at the choreography as a whole.

And those mics are live because at 2:32, you can hear some breath pops and exhales and there are some very obvious differences between the live vocals and the backtrack.

Lollapalooza 2025! 

I'm a little in love with their chaps and Jihyo looks stunning. Also, I'm pretty sure she says "My veins"  along with Momo right there.

Those are definitely live mics, but  several of them are turned down for some reason. It also looks like they're having some in-ear issues. We see some touching at 3:15 and at 3:19.

I love Nayeon at the end being all smiley. Considering that it looks like there may have been some issues with the performance, and not all of her members are as smiley, I appreciate that she is at the beginning and the end. And in the middle a little bit. She looks like she's enjoying herself.

Killing Voice!

If it doesn't dump you out to the start of One Spark, you're looking for 25:32.

The cutest thing I think I've ever seen is them doing the fan chant, and Jihyo (who only has one in-ear in, hyping up Momo.

Then you've also got Jeongyeon singing along with her face away from the mic at 26:08. It's very cute. As is her doing the choreography with Dahyun. 

Actually, the entire group does the choreography at one point or another through it. I'm just smiling through this. They look like they're having fun, and that's what matters.

I'm entertained by the fact that you can see the lit up "JYP" on the ceiling. Taec was right to make fun of the building in that one live. I don't even know if this is the same building, but he was still correct.

Anyway, choreography time. 

There are benefits to having a large group, and being able to have pockets of trios and pairings is one of them. One of the coolest parts of the choreography is at the start of the bridge at 2:21, where they're back to back swinging their feet against each other. The visual right there is great. And at :52 when they're dancing like they're doing a country dance from Scotland in the 1800s. It's remarkably satisfying because I feel like that's an underutilized form of dancing that kpop groups could borrow from, but it's one of those things where you need at least six members in a group to do it, which is another of the benefits is that when you do a full group synchronized bit of the choreography. Formations can be bigger and more complicated, but also, you look like you've got more people the more members a group has.

I have to laugh because at 2:41, we've got aggressive "Ha ha ha ha" as a way to count as well as clapping and stomping. It's all the things going on there through the end.

But this is generally a pretty delicate dance with occasional bursts of power and energy. I'm still not sure who's doing the ad-libs at the end in the recording, but at this point, it's kind of a moot point.

And because I'm me and I love watching them do the practices and learn the choreography and make mistakes while they learn (public service announcement: mistakes are good and how we learn; it's better to try and make mistakes rather than give up and never make a mistake), here's a behind the scenes with bare faces and glasses and hard work. And wrangling nine members is not easy. 

Thanks for reading everyone! Even if this song didn't get as many wins as some of its predecessors and successors, it's still a beautiful addition to their discography. Even if I didn't convince you, which is fine and you don't have to agree with me, I hope it's risen a little bit in your estimation. This may simply be a candle amidst their brighter songs, but when the electricity goes out, sometimes you need a candle.

And of course, if you've got some songs you'd like for me to cover, feel free to leave a comment or you can always use The Form if you want to have a spot to be more organized about your thoughts. There are a couple of optional questions in there to help me be focused with a prompt of sorts.

I hope you enjoyed the song! Next up is one that I was actually going to do over a year ago, but I didn't because the timing was bad.

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