A… green light, perhaps…?
[Video]
[4.70]
Ryo Miyauchi: While “Signal” clocks in as Twice’s fifth attempt to get their clueless crushes to notice them, JYP counters the group’s previous chain of bubbly anthems by bringing a more subdued synth sound to the table. “Different” is not necessarily “better” here, though; without a lively sound to attach their cheery attitude, Twice appear a little too bare.
[5]
Alfred Soto: The do-do-dos and deety-deeties are my kinds of signals: a chewy center in a hard crust. The spareness of the arrangement helps too.
[6]
Thomas Inskeep: I’ve come to expect K-pop to be forward-thinking, and “Signal,” sadly, sounds like it’s from the TRL era. It’s a bit too cutesy and a bit too dull.
[4]
Nortey Dowuona: Well, it isn’t a complete ripoff; it’s just unoriginal and flat, the beat is somewhere else, the synths are thick and obtrusive, the singing is tuned badly and the HEYS ARE FLIPPIN’ UNINSPIRED.
[3]
Lilly Gray: I love Twice so it truly pains me to say that this could effectively be used in sleep deprivation cells to torment enemy operatives.
[0]
David Sheffieck: The melodic bassline at the center of the production does its best, but it’s ultimately overpowered by the occasionally shrill vocals and the heavily processed handclaps. An example of a song trying to do too much with too little, redeemed somewhat by a decent hook and a lighter touch on the bridge that serves to highlight where the rest of the song falls short.
[6]
Will Rivitz: What I love most about PC Music and related artists is their no-holds-barred bombast. Everything my favorite artists of the moment make is loud, blinding, and obnoxious, every opportunity for glitz and gaudiness seized. “Signal” kind of gestures towards that clamor with its pounding 808s and J-pop synths, but it’s too restrained to capture the same joy. It’s a Pop Art canvas with a matte finish instead of a glossy one, a watered-down shot of vodka in a club that will file for bankruptcy in four months. Twice’s music is usually exuberant; this one’s a simulacrum of that feeling, not the real thing.
[5]
Micha Cavaseno: As established elsewhere regarding Twice, a song entirely about saying things without saying things is totally in their wheelhouse. You’d think the arrival of JYP behind the boards to guide his newest act to overrun the game might signal a noticeable change but… it isn’t?!? Production-wise the swing beat after the intro build is maybe the most boring aspect, but elsewhere on the song you’ve got weird synth washes and that super strange vocal filter at the end of Jungyeon’s parts. But then to go into that ritzy chorus is typical Twice exuding their usual forms of cringey “cute.” But again, beneath the surface Twice still feel like a realm of emotional clenching. Nobody talks to one another in Twice songs, and when they do display emotion it’s usually skirted away at as unseemly behavior. Just why is a group that’s so perky and overloaded also feel overwrought and obsessed with containing oneself?
[8]
Kalani Leblanc: You’d think that you could expect Twice’s first JYP produced title to be good, but “Signal” tells you to stop expecting anything from them. Maybe Jinyoung did have acts like Wonder Girls and Miss A, but they did have their fair share of bad vocalists between them. No matter how bad Twice’s predecessors were, Mr. Asian Soul must have been appalled listening to every one of these girls belt out their best “Signeul bonae.” K-pop songs aren’t ever reliant on good vocalists, but Twice continue to comfortably push the boundaries. I mean, it does grow on you… Too bad thats code for “This song is bad but you have to have low standards like me to enjoy it.”
[3]
Mo Kim: My theory about Twice’s name is that it usually takes about two listens before they Stockholm Syndrome you into admitting you like the hook, and then maybe the part that comes right before the hook, and then before you know it…every part of the song is stuck in your head. EVERY PART. The way Dahyun and Chaeyoung spit SHINE-EUL BONAE, SHIG-NAL BONAE, like they’re trying to hack up the cauliflower stuck in their throat. Momo and Mina’s “rapping.” The part where Jihyo and Nayeon ape IOI’s “Very Very Very,” another recent JYP production. And still, there’s no denying this is an earworm through and through. Like space invaders, Twice deliver hooks and sounds that feel alien at first yet draw you closer with each listen; “Signal” continues their fine streak of unrequited love songs that, somehow, get me to like them back.
[7]