#....getting into izone late might have helped but also they just talented and their choreo is creative and bold and i like the New and Shin

[redpiperfox]

....Wasn’t expecting to do this, but I’ve listened to this album enough to do this, I think. XP

Blue Blood

What a song. I love the militaristic, soldier undertones, the seriousness melded with the same musical themes from Eleven. It’s the sort of song that kicks in your core and rewrites your heartbeat, but in a focused, calmed beat. 

I Am

I love. Powerful elegance, angular black-and-white with golden rivulets, expensive heiress with all the ambitions of the world in her designer jacket. The best part? I love that each member has their assigned part, where their skills and vocal personalities are highlighted, and a pretty decent line distribution dang! The music video is stunning, the cinemetography, the solo shots, the character, yes! I love!

Kitsch

The video didn’t do it for me, although all the challenge clips I’ve seen from it are cute. This song was the sort I didn’t expect to like after the first listen, especially with the chorus, but man, the addiction to this one is real. There were no powerful vocal moments to draw me, but the sass, looking down their nose as they bounce in the club, is a vibe I didn’t realize I would love as much as I do. And Rei and Gaeul write their raps! Go off~!

Lips

There are several songs on this album where I thought “Twice, that’s a Twice mood” and this one was Alcohol Free on my first couple of listens. But it’s waaaay more laid back, it’s basking in a hammock on a private island beach, while the attention is a full ocean away trying to look at you through binoculors while you mock them. Very chill, very cute.

Heroine

I didn’t expect this song to go the way it did, but I love it for the way it does. You expect a harder hitting, powerful anthem with that title and IVE singing it. But it’s almost a tribute to femininity-- flowered and softer but no less full in itself. Written by my girl Yujin, I just had to look up the lyrics and they do not fall short. Yujin wrote a strong, female lead, at the stand of a courtroom and needing no one else to tell her she holds the power. She wears her heels and does her thing, and is the hero in all the little big ways of her life. 

Mine

Here’s another song that made me go “Twice!” ...But then we got to the chorus. And it’s like a schoolyard, petal picking girl who daydreams her comic-fantasy where everything swirls in the center of her palm. I saw it was written by Wonyoung, and something about the lyrics is the sort of childish that leads into the twirling, insistent declarations, feels very much like the Wonyoung that grew out of Iz*One into IVE

섬찟 (Hypnosis)

Was one of my favs on the first listens. I had to keep rewinding and relistening whenever I was interrupted. I love the piano pounding in the back that opens, that blends into a darker, snake dancing out of the basket mood, undermined in metallic sounds and taunting in the vocal styles. Gaeul and Rei writing their raps, and they do not fall flat. The song writers let them finish the song off with a statement, and it’s you on the ground as they walk pass. 

NOT YOUR GIRL

And that’s my other “Twice” vibes song. Through and through though, this song is so fun and youthful and cheerful. Gaeul and Rei write their raps again in this one, and I think I’m sensing a writing style for them (which is exciting,  ngl, love that~!)

궁금해 (Next Page)

Nothing outstanding about this one in my head, except the melding of the beats with melodies and vocals that made me think this could be at the back of an anime, or a sequence in a drama. Rei and Gaeul’s raps leading up as the prechorus is a power move, I love. 

Cherish

This is Disney romantics spun in urban fantasies. Chill lofi sounds mixed with a little pixie dust. Chill, sweet, darling. 

Shine With Me

This song comes right out of the gate with it’s OST emotions. In the rain, as it clears and leaves diamond-tears of starlight in it’s wake. Another Wonyoung written tribute to simple love, that makes me feel like it’s a song for the stage, for them to all turn to each other and sing to each other. (Or maybe make it a fan song, I don’t know, something about this chorus is very big stage, lights to the sky, phone-lights back and forth, crowd clapping and swaying.)

All in all, Ive has my attention. They have it with both hands, eyes glued, breath held as they bedazzle in their classy bedazzlement.