"Alcohol-Free" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Twice. It was released on June 9, 2021, through JYP Entertainment and Republic Records. It serves as the lead single from the group's tenth extended play, Taste of Love, which was released two days after.

"Alcohol-Free"
Single by Twice
from the EP Taste of Love
LanguageKorean
ReleasedJune 9, 2021
Studio
  • JYP Studios
  • Studio T
GenreBossa nova[1][2]
Length3:30
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Lee Hae-sol
  • J. Y. Park "The Asiansoul"
Twice singles chronology
"Kura Kura"
(2021)
"Alcohol-Free"
(2021)
"Perfect World"
(2021)
Music video
"Alcohol-Free" on YouTube

Background and release

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On April 19, 2021, it was reported that Twice were in the final stages of preparing for their comeback slated for June and were planning to film a music video on Jeju Island.[3] The group revealed the track listing to the EP, revealing "Alcohol-Free" as the lead single.[4] On June 7 and 8, the music video teasers for its accompanying video were published.[5][6] "Alcohol-Free" was released for digital download and streaming on June 9, alongside an accompanying music video.[7] To promote "Alcohol-Free", Twice performed the song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on the day of its release.[8][9]

Composition

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Written by J. Y. Park, "Alcohol-Free" is a bossa nova summer track with some hip hop elements, expressing Twice's "unique colors". Chaeyoung and Jihyo said that it reminded them of the group's earlier summer song, "Dance the Night Away".[10] Lyrically, the song recounts the magical moments of falling in love, with references to alcoholic drinks and cocktails.[1][2] Running for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the song is composed in the key of G♯ major with a tempo of 97 beats per minute.[11]

Reception

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Billboard ranked "Alcohol-Free" the 89th best song of 2021, writing that "Music history is littered with classic booze bangers, but far rarer is the pop jewel that sings of sobriety while remaining absolutely intoxicating."[12] The song was ranked at number 71 on Pitchfork's readers polls for the 100 best songs of the year.[13] It also appeared in unranked lists of the best K-pop songs of 2021 by CNN Philippines,[14] Marie Claire,[15] The National,[16] and Teen Vogue.[17]

Commercially, "Alcohol-Free" peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Global 200 and spent 8 weeks on the chart.[18] In Japan, the song peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.[19] In South Korea, it peaked at number 6 on the Gaon Digital Chart[20] and at number 7 on the K-pop Hot 100.[21]

Versions in other languages

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Twice released the fourth compilation album #Twice4, on March 16, 2022, which includes both Korean and Japanese-language versions of "Alcohol-Free". The Japanese lyrics were written by Yuki Kokobo.[22] An English version of the song was released as part of Twice's The Remixes album on November 22, 2023. The English lyrics were co-written by Melanie Fontana and Lindgren.[23]

Accolades

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Nominations for "Alcohol-Free"
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2021 Gaon Chart Music Awards Artist of the Year – Digital Music (June) Nominated [24]
Mnet Asian Music Awards Best Dance Performance – Female Group Nominated [25]
Song of the Year Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Best K-Pop Nominated [26]
2022 Golden Disc Awards Digital Bonsang Nominated [27]
Joox Thailand Music Awards Korean Song of the Year Nominated [28]
Music program awards for "Alcohol-Free"
Program Date Ref.
Inkigayo June 20, 2021 [29]
June 27, 2021 [30]
M Countdown June 17, 2021 [31]
June 24, 2021 [32]

Credits and personnel

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Credits adopted from Melon.[33]

Studios

personnel

  • Twice – vocals
  • Sophia Pae – background vocals
  • Distract – background vocals
  • Shim Eun-ji – vocal director, digital editing
  • JY Park “The Asiansoul” – lyricist, composition, arrangement, vocal director, all instruments, digital editing
  • Lee Hae-sol – arrangement, all instruments, sessions computer programming
  • Chun-ho Ham – guitar
  • ON the string – string
  • Lee Na-il – string arranged & conducted
  • Lee Sang-yeop– digital editing, mixing
  • Tae-seop Lee – mixing
  • Eom Se-hee – recording engineer
  • Park Eun-jung – recording engineer
  • Oh Seong-geun – strings recording
  • Joo Ye-chan – recording asstinst
  • Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

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Certifications

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Streaming certifications for "Alcohol-Free"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[43] Gold 50,000,000

Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Sun, Mi-kyung (June 9, 2021). "청량와이스 온다"..트와이스, 오늘(9일) 신곡 'Alcohol-Free' 발매[공식] ["Cheerful TWICE is coming"..TWICE, releases new song "Alcohol-Free" today (9th) [Official]] (in Korean). OSEN. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Twice: Taste of Love Album Review". Pitchfork. June 22, 2021. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  3. ^ Lee, Deok-haeng (April 19, 2021). [단독]9인 완전체 트와이스, 6월 컴백 확정..제주서 MV 촬영 [[Exclusive] TWICE with 9 members, confirmed comeback in June.. Filming MV in Jeju]. Star-News (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  4. ^ Chin, Carmen (May 31, 2021). "TWICE's 'Taste Of Love' features a track written by Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall". NME. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  5. ^ Lee, Seul (June 7, 2021). 트와이스, 새 앨범 '모어 앤드 모어' 선주문 50만 장 돌파…자체 최고 기록[공식입장] [TWICE releases MV teaser for 'Alcohol-Free'... Pre-orders surpass 500,000 [Official]] (in Korean). Xports News. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021 – via Naver.
  6. ^ Lee, Jae-hoon (June 8, 2021). 트와이스, '알콜-프리'에 취한다..내일 신곡 공개 [TWICE, Drunk in 'Alcohol-Free'... New song to be released tomorrow] (in Korean). Newsis. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021 – via Daum.
  7. ^ Chin, Carmen (June 9, 2021). "TWICE celebrate summer with a beach party in tropical 'Alcohol-Free' music video". NME. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  8. ^ Hong, Hye-min (May 26, 2021). 트와이스, 美 엘렌쇼 첫 출연 확정...특급 컴백 행보 [TWICE confirms first appearance on Ellen Show in the US... Special comeback strategy] (in Korean). Hankook Ilbo. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  9. ^ "Twice Performs "Alcohol-Free" On Wednesday's "Ellen DeGeneres Show" Episode (Watch Now)". Headline Planet. June 9, 2021. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  10. ^ Kwak, Kristine (June 11, 2021). "'We've Grown a Lot': K-Pop Girl Group Twice Shares 'Alcohol-Free', Discusses Summer Plans". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  11. ^ "Key, BPM of Alcohol-Free by TWICE". Musicstax. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  12. ^ Unterberger, Andrew (December 7, 2021). "The 100 Best Songs of 2021: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  13. ^ "The Best Music of 2021: Pitchfork Readers' Poll Results". Pitchfork. December 10, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  14. ^ Potenciano, Toni (December 24, 2021). "Our favorite K-pop songs of 2021". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  15. ^ LeGardye, Quinci (November 13, 2021). "The 20 Best New K-Pop Songs of 2021". Marie Claire. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  16. ^ Abdullahi, Thoraya (December 24, 2021). "The best K-pop songs of 2021: from 'LaLisa' to 'Butter'". The National. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  17. ^ LeGardye, Quinci (December 17, 2021). "The 54 Best K-Pop Songs of 2021". Teen Vogue. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Twice Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Twice Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Alcohol-Free". June 20–26, 2021. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  21. ^ a b "K-pop Hot 100 (week of June 26, 2021)". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  22. ^ "【CD】 #TWICE4<通常盤/初回仕様>". Tower Records Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  23. ^ "Alcohol-Free (English ver.)". Melon (in Korean).
  24. ^ "Gaonchart Music Awards" 11th Gaon Chart Music Awards 올해의 가수(디지털음원)후보자 [11th Gaon Chart Music Awards (Song of the Year) Nominees] (in Korean). Gaon Chart Music Awards. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  25. ^ "2021 MAMA Nominees – Nominees for 2021 MAMA". Mwave. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  26. ^ Torres, Eric (August 11, 2021). "MTV VMAs 2021 Nominees Announced: See the Full List Here". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  27. ^ "36th Golden Disc Awards – Nominees". Golden Disc Awards. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  28. ^ JOOX Thailand Music Awards 2022 เปิดลิสต์เข้าชิงสุดยอดรางวัลดนตรีแห่งปี 12 สาขา [JOOX Thailand Music Awards 2022 opens a list of nominations for the best music awards of the year in 12 categories]. Sanook Entertainment News (in Thai). March 7, 2022. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  29. ^ Kim Seo-young (June 20, 2021). "'인기가요' 트와이스 1위→브레이브걸스 컴백, 뱀뱀·유겸 재회 [종합]". Sports Kyunghyang (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  30. ^ Hye-jin, Jo (June 27, 2021). '인기가요' 헤이즈‧에스파‧트와이스, 후보 모두 출연 無→1위는 트와이스 [종합] ['Inkigayo' Heize, Espa, and TWICE, all nominees appeared → TWICE ranked first [General]]. Xports News (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  31. ^ Hwang, Soo-yeon (June 17, 2021). '엠카' 트와이스, 투바투 꺾고 1위…브레이브걸스·뱀뱀·유겸 컴백 [종합] ['M Countdown' Twice, beats TXT and takes 1st place... Brave Girls·Bam Bam·Yugyeom comeback [General]]. Xports News (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021 – via Naver.
  32. ^ Kim, Minji (June 21, 2021). 트와이스, 美 '빌보드 200' 6위+'Alcohol-Free' MV 1억뷰…글로벌 서머 퀸 [TWICE, US 'Billboard 200' 6th place + 'Alcohol-Free' MV 100 million views... Global Summer Queen]. News1 (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
  33. ^ "Taste of Love - TWICE (트와이스)". Melon (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  34. ^ "Weekly Combined Singles Chart – June 28, 2021" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  35. ^ "Top 20 Most Streamed International +Domestic Songs Week 24 (11/06/2021-17/06/2021)". RIM. June 25, 2021. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  36. ^ "Nederlandse Global Top 40 – week 26, 2021" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  37. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. June 21, 2021. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  38. ^ "RIAS Top Charts". Recording Industry Association Singapore. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  39. ^ "World Digital Song Sales: June 19, 2021". Billboard. June 15, 2021. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  40. ^ 2021년 07월 Digital Chart [July 2021 Digital Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  41. ^ "Billboard K-Pop 100 2021.7 July". Billboard Korea (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  42. ^ "2021년 Digital Chart". Gaon Music Chart. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  43. ^ "Japanese single streaming certifications – Twice – Alcohol-Free" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved August 22, 2022. Select 2022年7月 on the drop-down menu