Alcohol-Free

For other uses, see Alcohol-free (disambiguation).
"Alcohol-Free"
Single by Twice
from the EP Taste of Love
LanguageKorean
ReleasedJune 9, 2021 (2021-06-09)
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

"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.

Background and release

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

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

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

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

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

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

Certifications

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

References

  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.
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