2018 song by Christina Aguilera
"Twice" is a song by American singer Christina Aguilera from her eighth studio album, Liberation (2018).[1] It was released for digital download and streaming on May 11, 2018 by RCA Records as the album's first promotional single.[2][3] Kirby Lauryen wrote the track and co-produced it with Sandy Chila. Upon its release of, music critics were positive towards the track, praising Aguilera's voice and the lyrics. Commercially, "Twice" reached top-forty positions on the digital charts of Australia and Spain. The song was later included in the setlist for The Liberation Tour,[4] Christina Aguilera: The Xperience,[5] and The X Tour.[6]
Background and composition
"Twice" was solely written by Kirby Lauryen, while co-producing along with Sandy Chila.[7][8] On May 10, 2018, Aguilera posted a video on her Twitter account in which she teased the release of a song from her then-upcoming eight studio album, Liberation (2018), stating that she loves the song's "raw vocal quality" and the "spiritual emotion and tone" it conveys.[9][10][11] The track was released for digital download and streaming as the first promotional single from Liberation on May 11, 2018 by RCA Records.[1] Musically, "Twice" has been described as a soulful ballad[12][13][14] with a length of four minutes and two seconds.[7] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is performed in the key of F♯ Minor with a moderately slow tempo of 75 beats per minute. Aguilera's vocals span from E3 to F5.[15]
Critical reception
Jon Pareles from New York Times said that "Twice" "mournfully ponders sin, forgiveness and redemption".[16] Nicholas Hautman of Us Weekly stated that "Twice" is Aguilera's best song since "Hurt", noting its "contemplative and stripped-down nature".[17] Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph considered that Aguilera sounded "like a one-woman Fleetwood Mac" and praised "her rich low notes fluttering effortlessly up to falsetto with no loss of control".[18] During a review for Liberation for PopCrush, Bobby Olivier called "Twice" "a sparse and pensive track" and described the intro of the song as "harmonic".[19] Althea Legapsi from Rolling Stone opined that the lyrics contemplate "the duality that can be found with love",[20] and Mike Nied from Idolator deemed the singer's voice, calling it "as strong as ever before".[21] Zach Johnson of E! Online labelled "Twice" as a "brooding ballad".[11]
Visuals video
Although the song was never promoted with an official music video, a conceptual visual video—created by Aguilera and her team—was released on May 11, 2018.[22][23][24] It was meant to express the singer's thankfulness for her fans' support, and contains a spiritual, naturalist theme: Aguilera is seen submerged in water, and those scenes are followed by close-ups of flowers.[22] Aguilera called the visuals "personal" and believed they "set a tone behind the feel of the music as a kind of backdrop".[22][23] She said the video was shot because she "felt inspired by the themes of duality and inner struggle in 'Twice'".[22][23]
