K-Pop Stars Tws on New Ep ‘Play Hard’ and Their Message to Us Fans (Exclusive Photos)

For K-Poop Boy Group Tws, It All Comes Back to Youth.

The Six-Member Group Has Carved Out a Sound’s CONSIVATIENTLY ENERGETIC AND Undeniably Youthful-Music That Celebrates the Highs, Thrills and Chaos of Being Young. IT MAKES SENSE FOR The GROUP – CONSISTING OF Members Shinyu, Dohoon, Youngjae, Hanjin, Jihoon and Kyungmin – Who Range in Age from 18 to 21. Their Latest Ep, Play HardContinues that Tradition.

“For this album, the most Important Key Phrases Are ‘You Drive Me Crazy’ and ‘Youth Drive Me Crazy,’“ Youngjae Tels The Hollywood Reporter On a zoom from the Seoul Headquarters of Korean Music Giant Hybe. IT’s Nearing 11:30 PM in Korea, But The Six Members of Tws Show No SIGNS OF FATIGUE. They are Englished in the Conversation, Seemingly Excited to Chat About their New Music.

The Boy Group, Coming Up Onir Second Anniversary in January 2026, Hiles from Hybe Sub-Label Pledis Entertainment Seventeen. But Tws, Pronounced “Two US,” Has Forged Their Own Path As A Group.

The Group Found Early Domestic Success in A Constantly Evolving Music EcoSystem, Not An Easy Task. “Plot Twist,” The Lead Single from Their DEBUT EP, Sparkling BlueReleased in January 2024, is Still Charting on the Korean melon Music Chart Nearly Two Years Later (at the Time of Publishing, It Sits at No. 58).

On Play HardThe Group’s Fourth Ep, Tws Ventures Into New Sonic Territory with Several Songs, Including Their Pre-Release Single, “Heads Shoulders Knees Toes.” The Album’s First Track, WHICH TAKS ITS NAME FROM The CLASSIC CHILDRONN’S NURSERY RHYME, GOES HARDER THAN MOST TWS Singles, Despite It Sweet Title, An Edh. Transition Into Young Adulthood.

The Album’s Lead Single, “Overdrive,” is a guitar-Heavy, Energetic Pop Song About Young Love, and It Feels Right at Home In Tws’ Discography. “Is this How It’s Supped to Feel?

Tws Spoke with Thr About Creatiely Contributing to Play HardWhaty’ve Learned From Each Other and What Message They Like to Send to Their US Fans.

How Are You Feeling About the Album?

Jihoon We Think this album is a big and important step. We Can Express [ourselves] More Deeply and Try Different Music Types. We Discussed a Lot of Things to Prepare this Album, so Play Hard is precious to us.

Some of You Were Creatiely Involved With The Album, Who Bene Bene Lyrics or Choreography. WHAT WAS THAT Experience Like?

Jihoon Me and dohoon wrote some lyrics, and also i did a little bit of choreography. Durying this experience and learned a Lot. I ALSO Learned About Our Team, and [about] How Deeply I Love My Team. That was one of the most precios moments in my life. What a big Honor.

Dohoon This is the first time for me to actualally contribute [creatively to the album]SO it was a big honor. If the opportunity is available Again, I Hope that All of Our Members Can Actual Pitch Ideas, Whther It’s In The Form of Lyrics or to Make Songs with Ideas.

What makes “overrive” a perfect fit for you as a group? WHAT MAKES IT A SIGNATURE TWS Song for You?

Kyungmin I Think This Song Maintains the Refreshing Vibe of Tws, Yet It Also CAPTures The PASSION THAT WE HAVE TOWARDS THATS THAT WE LOVE The MOST. I Think This Song Has A Really Strong Impact Overall.

What’s Everyone’s Favorite Track on the Album?

Hanjin My Favorite Song is Actually “Overdrive,” of the Song That You Just Mentioned, Because It’s A Song That Does Well at Expressing The Passion That One Has Towards Something. I Think Tws, in General, We’re A Really Ambitious Team. We Work Really Hard, and We TRY to DO WELL AT Anything We DO. I Think It’s A Song that defines US Well.

Kyungmin My Favorite Song Is “Here for You” Because It’s About Waiting for You [the fans]Who I Love So Much. I love this song.

Jihoon My Favorite Song Is “Caffeine Rush” Because It’s One of the Acoustic Songs [on the album]. I [tend to] Like something instrumental, like a piano or guitar Drums.

Shinyu I Like “Hot Blue Shoes” Because It’s A SONG WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE PASSION OF TWS WITH The VOCALS BECAUSE THAT’S HOW WE RECORDED IT.

Dohoon I Will Choose “Head Shoulders Knees Tees” Because the Performance Is So Awesome. You See a Completely New Side of Us.

Youngjae My Favorite Track is “Overtthinking” because i was just naturally Drawn to the song WHEN I FIRST heard it. The Song Has A Lot of Pop Elements, and if You Listen to the Corus, It’s A VERY ROMANTIC HOOK, WHICH GOES “Because i’m Overtime You.”

You’re coming up on two years as a group. What has been the most important things you’ve learned about youurselves as performers, or even as people?

Shinyu For the Past Two Years, I Think We’ve Had Many Opportunities to Meet 42 [pronounced Sai — the official name for fans of the group] Through Different Tours and Concerts. Those Experiences Allowed Me to Grow, So Going Forward We’d Like to Meet More 42 And Share Our Music and Energy with Them.

Is there anything you’ve learned from each Other? Do you find you’ve become better at someting because of your teammates?

Jihoon All Six Members Are Always Working Hard; [everyone is] HardWorking and Always passionate. Especially, for Example, Hanjin is Always Studying Korean Late Into The Night. Youngjae is Always Practicing His Vocals After All of Our Schedules [are done]. Actually, All of the Members Are The Same [with their hard work]so through this i learned how to be passionate. I Define What Passionate Means Through My Fellow Group Members. That’s the Biggest Thing I’ve Learned From My [fellow] Members.

Kyungmin We Learned that We All Have Different Personalities, and We Regularly Gather Together to Talk Amongst Ourselves. We have this regular gathering [called modakbul, the Korean word for bonfire]WHERE WE GATHER AROUND A FIREPLACE AND WE HAVE AND HONEST CONVERSATION CONVERSH EACH Other.

This is someting i like to ask every artist I Speak with. As a Public Figure, you don’h have Much Say in how you or your work is perceived. But I Assume You Have An Ideal Way people would see See Tws. Do you know what that is yet?

Hanjin I Think WHEN PEOPLE Are Going Through Tough Times, One Of The Things they Need Is Music. I HOPE THAT PEOPLE – WHEN they LISTEN TO OUR MUSIC – they can get hopeful and be energygized again. Since We Sing About Youth, I Hope That People Be Reminded of Their YouTh, WHICH MIGHT GET FORGOTTEN IN THEIR EVERYDAY, BUSY LIVES.

Do you have a message to your us fans?

Jihoon We’ll Do Our BEST AND WORK HARD UNTIL OUR SONGS AND MESSAGES CAN ACTUALLY GET TO The US AND HOPEFULLY PEOPLE WILL WILL GET INTERESTED AND LIKE OUR MUSIC. We would like to be a group that supects and roots for our fans.

Youngjae Last Year, We Had A CHANCE TO ACTUALLY VISIT The US We Were Able to Perform in Various Venues Including Kcon La, Iheartradio, The Mama Awards, The Grammy Museum and Vevo. Through Those performances, we have were about feel so Much Energy from the Crowds. WHEN We Come Back, We’ll Be in Better Form and with Better Energy.