TWS have been teasing their October comeback for some time now and today we finally have our first taste of their upcoming mini album. As any regular reader of the blog already knows, I’ve become a mega fan of their music over the past two years and love the way they’ve been able to establish their own niche. Most title tracks have conformed to a similar musical palette while b-sides and pre/post releases offer more variety. Such is the case with pre-release Head Shoulder Knees Toes, which takes the group in an explosive hip-hop direction.
As much as I’ve adored TWS’s brighter title tracks, I do think it’s nice to explore different sounds as a group matures. However, as a longtime K-pop fan I know how this usually goes for boy groups. Melody becomes secondary as posturing becomes their primary aim. We’ve seen it over and over again, and for a group as melodically rich as TWS the transition feels especially treacherous. I wish K-pop agencies would recognize that there are different ways to go “mature” or “dark” or “edgy” or whatever other word they want to use.
Head Shoulders Knees Toes is a mix of the good and the bad. While its repetitive, spoken word chorus is disarmingly catchy, it’s also the exact style of NCT shout-chanting that drives me crazy. A strong, melodic chorus would have done wonders for this song. Instead, the real goodies arrive during the verses — particularly verse two. I wish the entire track sounded as adventurous as this segment, which pops with a variety of melodic flourishes and hits of celebratory brass. At its best, the song has a sense of scope that I’d love to see more of in TWS’s work.
More than anything, my feelings around Head Shoulders Knees Toes remind me of my reaction when another favorite group (RIIZE) went down this sonic route (Bag Bad Back). I ended up loving that song for its sheer showmanship, and I can see TWS’s immense skill doing the same for Head Shoulders Knees Toes in the long run. For now, I remain skeptical but willing to be won over. However, I really hope the album’s title track gives us another dose of feel-good energy and anthemic hooks. No one does that better than TWS at the moment.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8 |
