Twinkle
Taetiseo, a three-member sub unit comprised of
Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun come streaming ahead with a
very impressive 1st Mini album that packs character and value for
money in a neat, wonderfully designed package sure to satisfy Sones, fans and
album collectors alike.
With neon colours, out-there costumes and a very
retroesque sound uncommonly found in mainstream K-pop, bold is indeed the only
word I can find fitting enough to describe this piece of eccentricity. Gone are
the white t-shirts and skinny jeans so typical of Girls’ Generation, instead
you get the three ladies delving head first into a very charming, feminine
concept that exudes class and sophistication mixed with a little bit of
playful.
At first glance at the album, you’re met with a
mixture of monochrome and colour, two melding schemes that dominate the
majority of the front cover. No doubt, there is a lot of artwork, so much so
that it’s quite overwhelming, every piece of art popping out, all vying for the
opportunity to catch your wandering eye. Hold the rectangular box in your hands
and you’ll realise it’s quite heavy and thick, likely to be heavier than most
albums out there. The girls’ pink, purple and orange themes run through a fair
bit of the album art, much to your displeasure or pleasure, I’ll leave that
up to you to decide.
One thing is for sure, SM entertainment certainly
did not leave out the little details, with even the album sides adorned with
intricate art. If you don’t want to spoil yourself, shield your eyes from
the photos below and skip to the end of the review.
There are three parts to the album, the plastic
cover sheet, the backing photo and the actual album box itself. The image on
the plastic cover sheet and the backing photos fit together to create a
complete piece of artwork on the front and back of the album, which I
personally thought was pretty nifty and clever. The plastic does scratch
easily, however it’s barely noticeable if used with the backing photo.
The album box itself is made of paper and when you
open it, you’re met with another colourful photo of the girls. Now, that photo
you see actually serves as a paper cover for all the other material underneath.
To get the material, you need to take that cover out, which I admit, was no
easy task. The cover is designed in a way that it literally tucks into the box,
so you can’t really pull it out with your fingers, unless you are gifted with
long, slim fingernails.
A good thing about it is that well…nothing can ever drop out, keeping everything nice and neat within the album box. But the bad thing about it is that for me, a pedantic person who treats albums like glass, I found getting the cover loose quite difficult. After minutes of trying to pull it off without damage, I gave up eventually and ended up turning the entire box upside down, shaking it to get everything else out. A beautiful feature yes, but rather impractical.
A good thing about it is that well…nothing can ever drop out, keeping everything nice and neat within the album box. But the bad thing about it is that for me, a pedantic person who treats albums like glass, I found getting the cover loose quite difficult. After minutes of trying to pull it off without damage, I gave up eventually and ended up turning the entire box upside down, shaking it to get everything else out. A beautiful feature yes, but rather impractical.
The CD jacket is very, very bright, with the girls’
neon concepts literally shoved very evidently in your face. Depending on
whether you like the concept or not, it can either tickle or not tickle your
fancy. However there is no denying that it is very intricate, with beautiful watercolour
painted pictures adorning the entire booklet. I particularly love the design on
the actual CD, although I am till now, still undecided about Taeyeon’s
protruding orange afro that dominate large portions of the inner jacket. The
booklet folds out and contains lyrics to all the songs written in fitting, complimenting
grey font.
I personally really adore postcards and to my
pleasant surprise, this album has many, many, many of them. I guess with
Taetiseo only having three members, the three of them are gifted with the
luxury of having multiple, individual postcards. All three members wear sets of
complimenting outfits, differing style, colour and image. There are three
individual photo sets and one group photo set, with even the postcard backing
imprinted with a photo of them. This many postcards will equal to a very
impressive looking display wall if you ever decide to put them up.
Typical of SM entertainment, there are photocards,
this time with two versions of each member. Pictured below is a photo of only
one version of Taeyeon and Tiffany. There are six in total to collect, with the
cards having printed signatures of the members behind them.
All in all, despite the impracticality of some parts
of the packaging, I thought (despite all my biasness) that Twinkle was a very
beautiful looking album. I loved the melding plastic cover photos and the
intricacy of every single piece of art. You get a lot of material inside and SM
certainly did not skimp out on the variety of the girls’ photos.
I will admit
that the neon concept will not appeal to everyone’s taste, but I found the
old-school, old fashioned watercolour and sketch detailing unique and elegant,
very fitting and reminiscent of the music style that Taetiseo produces in this
record. It will serve as a bright addition to anybody’s KPOP CD collection and
will satisfy even the most die-hard of Sones.
Title Song: Twinkle
Recommended Songs: Baby Steps, OMG (Oh My God)
Ps. DON'T THEY LOOK BEAUTIFUL? <3
C.
