Twice is facing the duality of good and evil in its brand new single “I Can’t Stop Me.”

The nine-piece band dropped its second full-length Korean album “Eyes Wide Open” on Monday evening, which features the disco-tinged pop lead track “I Can’t Stop Me.” Ahead of the release, the bandmates shared details of the new song and excitement over releasing their first full-length album in three years.

“Comparing ourselves to three years ago, we realized how much we’ve grown up. With all those numerous albums, concerts and various kinds of experience as musicians, we’ve learned a lot. There’s no limit to Twice’s growth, so please look forward to ‘Eyes Wide Open’ as well,” shared band leader Jihyo in an emailed interview with the press. 

“Eyes Wide Open,” penned by agency chief Park Jin-young and composed by Melanie Joy Fontana and Michel “Lindgren” Schulz,” is a retro-inspired electro-pop track that takes on a more mature tone.

If the band’s previous “More & More” album talked about facing new kinds of emotions, the new album touches on its ensuing confusion of struggling between good and bad. The musicians explained that the aforementioned records are connected in terms of storyline, suggesting listeners to pay keen attention to the expanding narration.

“’I Can’t Stop Me’ embraces those precarious feelings, quite a dark topic we haven’t sung of before, as we all have both bright and risky sides within us. We hope our listeners can detect these new sides of us,” said Mina. Dahyun shared that the song is largely centered on JYP’s signature retro vibe with a touch of European electronic sounds and US synth sounds from the ‘80s, saying “The song truly shows JYP’s strength in retro (sounds). Once you listen to it, you will find yourself humming.”

Chaeyoung also added, “We also wanted to showcase our new sides visually, such as our widely beloved suit outfits from our teasers. We have many other kinds of outfits in store, some of them are featured in the song’s music video. So please look forward to them.”

The fully-packed 13-track album also features songs like “Hell in Heaven,” “Up No More,” “Behind the Mask,” “Believer,” “Do What We Like” and “Say Something.”

Sana, who penned “Do What We Like” by herself, said, “You’ll find that all of our new songs have different vibe from our past works. There are so many songs we’d like you to listen to.” Jihyo chose “Hell In Heaven” as her favorite track as it shows a sonic shift for the group, while Dahyun named “Queen” and “Bring it Back” which credit the rapper as an exclusive lyricist. Tzuyu expressed her hope to perform “Up No More” at the group’s upcoming performances.

Having recently celebrated its fifth anniversary online, Twice is set to hold a live broadcast session dubbed “Twice ‘I Can’t Stop Me’ Special Live” at 8 p.m. (KST) on V Live and YouTube to talk about the new album. Meanwhile, Jungyeon will sit out during the group’s promotional activities due to health issues.

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