After talking about the feeling of love with “Heart Shaker” last winter, Twice is back with a question about love this time: “What is Love?”

On Monday, the chart-topping girl group returned with its fifth EP “What is Love?” fronted by a lead track of the same name.

In the lead track, which is upbeat and bubbly with the group’s signature pop effusiveness, the members transform into naive young women who have learned about love through books, movies and dramas, but haven’t actually experienced it. “I wanna know/They say (love) is as sweet as candy/What is love?/Will love come to me someday?” they sing. 

The lead track was created by JYP Entertainment’s head producer Park Jin-young, the mastermind behind the group’s breakout hits “Signal” and “Merry & Happy.” The six-track EP also includes songs written by the members, with Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung taking part in writing “Sweet Talker,” and “Ho!” featuring Jihyo as a lyricist. It was their first time participating in creating the album.

“While none of us has learned songwriting, we would love to write our own song someday,” said Nayeon during a press showcase for the new EP in Seoul on Monday.

Twice is arguably one of the busiest and most successful K-pop acts to date. Since releasing its first single “Like Ooh-Ahh” in 2015, the nine-piece act has seen all of its albums appear within the top 15 of Billboard’s world albums chart with its high-energy bubblegum sound.

It has also scored a major success in Japan, as “Candy Pop” -- its latest Japanese single released in January -- was recently certified platinum by a Japanese recording industry association for selling more than 400,000 copies. It became the third Twice song to be certified platinum by the association after its Japanese debut compilation album “#TWICE” and follow-up single “One More Time,” released in October.

Asked what propelled the group to superstar status in Japan, Dahyun said, “I think our choreography, which is easy to follow, played a huge role in achieving fame in Japan. Thank you for loving our dance movements.”

“We recently performed in Chile, and we were so grateful to Chile fans for recognizing us,” said Chaeyoung.

Their hectic schedule can be tiresome, but the members said they have never been low on motivation due to the love and support from fans.

“Sometimes we are very tired with our busy schedules, but we always tell each other, ‘We may not be able to receive this much of love when we get older. Let’s do our best at this moment,’” Jihyo said.

Twice is scheduled to stage a series of concerts titled “TWICELAND ZONE 2: Fantasy Park” at Jamsil Arena in eastern Seoul from May 18-20. It will continue the concerts in Japan from May 26-27 at Saitama Super Arena and June 2-3 at Osaka-Jo Hall. The group will perform in more cities overseas later this year, including Singapore and Bangkok. 


By Hong Dam-young
(lotus@heraldcorp.com)