The South Korean girls group, TWICE, released their second-English song and new single, ‘Moonlight Sunrise’ on January 20th. 

TWICE revealed in December of 2022 on their official Twitter page that MOONRISE SUNRISE would be a pre-release of TWICE’s upcoming 12th mini album, ‘Our Youth,’ which would be released sometime in March 2023. The nine-member group has seen success in Japan, in addition to frequently topping charts and taking home music awards in South Korea. The group has released more than ten albums and EPs and work hard to constantly release new music, in Korean and Japanese, at least three times a year since their debut in 2015. TWICE’s ascent to the top echelon of Korean performers has been aided by the band’s frequent releases. 

TWICE’s member; Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu, originated from a reality competition like many of the best K-pop acts of the moment, like Monsta X and IZ*ONE. A large number of JYP Entertainment ‘trainees,’ the term for aspiring idols getting ready for a prospective debut, competed for spots in the group’s final roster in the 2015 series Sixteen. Seven people were dismissed, leaving the remaining nine to form a new group after a series of tasks that tested the competitors’ personality, singing, rapping, and dancing skills. TWICE’s name refers to the performance having an effect “once through the ears and once through the eyes,” according to Park Jinyoung, the founder of JYP Entertainment, who revealed the label’s new female group at the time. The devoted followers of TWICE have a name as well, a trait common by all K-pop artists (BTS fans are referred to as “ARMYs,” while Blackpink fans are referred to as “Blinks”). A “Once” is a fan of the female group. “If you love us even once, we will repay your love with TWICE of our love,” the group members wrote on social media in 2015. 

TWICE made history earlier year of 2022 when they held the first K–pop girl group dome tour in Japan, drawing an estimated 210,000 spectators over the course of five performances. TWICE is not only the second female artist (after the widely successful Japanese girl group AKB48) to ever hold a three-day concert at the Tokyo Dome, but also the first foreign female artist in history to do so.

Although TWICE has always had a sizable foreign fanbase, the year 2019 has seen the group make significant progress toward being a dominant force in K-pop worldwide. TWICE began their first U.S tour in July 2019, beginning a new phase in their relationship with people outside of Asia. Mina, one of the nine members in TWICE, withdrew from the group’s world tour, according to JYP Entertainment, because of “sudden extreme anxiety and insecurity toward performing on stage.” The statement was reinforced by a letter detailing Mina’s diagnosis of anxiety disorder was a tremendous step forward in promoting mental health in a field where celebrities absences from events due to illness are frequently addressed ambiguously. TWICE has received praise from the K-pop community for fostering discussions about mental health, a topic that is still taboo in much of Asia because depression is frequently seen as a sign of weakness and because mental health services can be lacking in nations like South Korea and China.