For the first time in its career, Twice strayed away from bubblegum sound and adopted a more mature style with its new single “Fancy.” And its bold return seems to have successfully captured the hearts of K-pop audiences in and out of Korea.

According to the act’s agency JYP Entertainment, the song, out on Monday evening, has topped a total of six major local streaming sites as of Tuesday morning. The song has also peaked at No. 1 on the iTunes song charts in eight countries, including Hong Kong and Vietnam. In addition, the band’s new EP “Fancy You” has topped the iTunes album chart in 25 countries, including Singapore, Greece and Mexico.

The nine-piece act’s first single of the year, “Fancy” is a dramatic and dynamic song that features Twice in a totally new light.

While keeping the group’s previous quirky festive tone that has defined a majority of its hits, “Fancy” blends mellow mood pop electro beats with the members’ sophisticated, strong melodies.

Singing about love, the bandmates boldly express their emotions with lines like “I won’t ever let you go” and “It doesn’t matter who liked who first.”




“We’ve always showcased bright and energetic performances in the past, but with our new album, we tried to focus on our mature sides. At the same time, however, we tried not to lose our unique cheerfulness by mixing chic and cheerful sides,” said Jihyo during the group’s showcase for the new EP in Seoul on Monday.

At the highly-anticipated media event, the nine bandmates appeared in black body-hugging outfits, which emphasized the new single’s mature and bold vibe.




Talking about the group’s musical concepts, Jihyo continued, “In our fifth year, we used to worry that people might get tired of our consistently bright image. And then we encountered ‘Fancy,’ which we thought would bring out new sides of us. In order to embrace both cute choreography and mature sides, we chose black outfits.”

Chaeyoung chimed in, saying, “We wanted to show people and fans that Twice is capable of other things as well. Having ‘Fancy’ as our first single of the year in Korea will be a major turning point for us.”

Having recently made history as the first K-pop girl group to hold a multi-city Japanese dome tour, Twice also expressed gratitude to fans all over the world at the showcase event.

“We had a dream-like time thanks to Once (Twice’s fan base). We are just so grateful,” said Momo.

Tzuyu added, “It’s been a great honor. Of course, we felt a huge burden, but as we know that performing on such stages is a rare chance for us, we tried our best.”




The multinational act kicked off its “#Dreamday” tour in Osaka at Kyocera Dome, which holds 55,000 people, in March. This was followed by shows at the Tokyo Dome and the Nagoya Dome through the end of March and early April.

“We really enjoy holding concerts, and we don’t take them as a record of our activities, but as a festival that brings us and our fans together. We were so happy to meet over 50,000 Onces during the dome tour,” Jihyo added.

The six-track EP features bombastic “Stuck in My Head,” “Girls Like Us,” “Hot,” “Turn it Up” and “Strawberry,” for which Jihyo, Momo, Sana and Chaeyeong participated in writing lyrics.

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