"Twice" is a song by American singer

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

from her eighth studio album, ''

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'' (2018). It was released for digital download and streaming on May 11, 2018 by

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as the album's first

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Kirby Lauryen Kirby Lauryen Dockery, also known by the stage names Kirby (stylized as KIRBY) and Kirby Lauryen, is an American singer-songwriter. She has written pop songs such as "FourFiveSeconds" performed by Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney. Kirby is ...

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 The Liberation Tour may refer to: * The Liberation Tour (Christina Aguilera tour) The Liberation Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer Christina Aguilera. The tour was launched in support of her eighth studio album, ''Liberation'' ...

, Christina Aguilera: The Xperience, and The X Tour.

Background and composition

"Twice" was solely written by

, while co-producing along with Sandy Chila. On May 10, 2018, Aguilera posted a video on her

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account in which she teased the release of a song from her then-upcoming eight studio album, ''

'' (2018), stating that she loves the song's "raw vocal quality" and the "spiritual emotion and tone" it conveys. The track was released for digital download and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

as the first

from ''Liberation'' on May 11, 2018 by

. Musically, "Twice" has been described as a soulful

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

with a length of four minutes and two seconds. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

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, the song is performed in the key of F Minor with a moderately slow

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 75 beats per minute. Aguilera's vocals span from E₃ to F₅.

Critical reception

Jon Pareles from ''

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'' said that "Twice" "mournfully ponders sin, forgiveness and redemption", while Chuck Arnold from ''

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'' described the song as a "haunting piano ballad". Furthermore, Arnold felt that Aguilera displayed "softer, more subtle shades of her delivery" in order to demonstrate "what a great singer can do when it’s all about the song — and the voice". Nicholas Hautman of ''

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'' stated that "Twice" is Aguilera's best song since " Hurt", noting its "contemplative and stripped-down nature". Neil McCormick from ''

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'' considered that Aguilera sounded "like a one-woman

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" and praised "her rich low notes fluttering effortlessly up to falsetto with no loss of control". During a review for ''Liberation'' for

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, Bobby Olivier called "Twice" "a sparse and pensive track" and described the intro of the song as "harmonic". Althea Legapsi from ''

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'' opined that the lyrics contemplate "the duality that can be found with love", and Mike Nied from

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deemed the singer's voice, calling it "as strong as ever before". Zach Johnson of ''

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'' labelled "Twice" as a "brooding ballad".

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. 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. Aguilera called the visuals "personal" and believed they "set a tone behind the feel of the music as a kind of backdrop". She said the video was shot because she "felt inspired by the themes of duality and inner struggle in 'Twice'".

Live performances

On June 9, 2018 Aguilera performed the track for the first time at the Genentech Gives Back benefit concert in San Francisco. Other songs presented on stage included ''Liberation'' singles "

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" and "

Fall in Line "Fall in Line" is a song by American singer Christina Aguilera for her eighth studio album ''Liberation'' (2018), featuring guest vocals from American singer Demi Lovato. It was released as the album's second single on May 16, 2018 by RCA Recor ...

". Aguilera promoted "Fall in Line" during 2018's

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on September 9. Before she sang the song, celebrity drag queen

Sasha Velour Alexander "Sasha" Hedges Steinberg (born June 25, 1987), known professionally as Sasha Velour, is an American drag queen, artist, actor, and stage and television producer, based in Brooklyn, New York. Velour is known for winning the ninth seaso ...

acted out the lyrics of "Twice". The song was included in the setlist for Aguilera's 2018 Liberation Tour. The singer's rendition at the

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on October 4, 2018 was called "killer" by ''

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s Bobby Olivier. In 2019, "Twice" was also performed during a concert residency Christina Aguilera: The Xperience, and The X Tour in Europe and Mexico. The X Tour's arrangement was met with critical acclaim, praised by ''

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'', ''

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'', and ''FrontView Magazine''. In July 2021, Aguilera performed "Twice" during her two night show at the

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with

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist who is the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Paris Opera. Early life Dudamel was bor ...

and the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at th ...

Accolades

Charts

References

External links

* {{Christina Aguilera songs Christina Aguilera songs 2010s ballads 2018 songs 2018 singles RCA Records singles Songs written by Kirby Lauryen Pop ballads