Formula Of Love - TWICE (2021)

A recommendation from my far-above-middling middle kid, Bayliss

Two KPop albums in a row, both rec’d by family members. A testament to how important KPop is to my family, even if I don’t pay much attention myself.

Relentless: not a word that leaps to mind when it comes to pop records. But this album feels relentless to me. Club-friendly modern disco that sounds synthetic but lively. There’s a lot of depth and clarity to the beats, even if not a lot of nuance. They skip around among different styles of dance and pop music and do a great job of it.

Aside from the 9 members and various songwriting credits, I counted 45 different people who have a producer credit on at least one track. So you can’t pretend that this is some sort of singular artistic statement. But it works as a collective product, putting a lot of people’s efforts together with a quality level that’s higher than I might have expected.

It does feel like they were contractually obligated to fill out the second half with a couple of less-relentless mid-tempo ballads and the “sub-group” songs that showcase 3 of the 9 members each. But hey: I listened at my standing desk, and basically didn’t stop moving the whole time. What more do you need?

Tracks I Liked

SCIENTIST - Nice drop into a great groove that I’ll forgive for sounding a lot like 90s Madonna.

ICON - kind of a europop feel but with a fantastic swagger. I listened to it twice in a row, turning it up a notch the second time with good results

ESPRESSO - more of an new jack swing vibe. very well executed