“Behind the Mask” is a song released on October 26, 2020, through JYP Entertainment, Dreamus, and Republic Records. It was recorded by the girls in 2020. “Behind the Mask” serves as the last track (thirteenth track) of their fourth studio album titled Eyes Wide Open. This song also serves as the twelfth sidetrack, the last sidetrack on this studio album. To introduce “Behind the Mask,” JYP Entertainment released a highlight medley video. This video is filled with a compilation of the highlighted parts of each track from this studio album. The full version of this song can be listened to through the studio album, Twice’s official YouTube channel, and Spotify. You can listen to “Behind the Mask” by clicking the video here:
The highlight of “Behind the Mask” was revealed through a highlight medley video. You can see the highlight medley video here:
Background of “Behind the Mask”
Back in June 2020, Twice released More & More, their tenth extended play (EP) album with a summer tropical concept. After the promotion period of More & More ended, a lot of news reported that this EP album was very successful. Because of this success, there were many rumors talking about how Twice had already prepared for their next comeback. These rumors were spreading widely through the media. The agency of Twice, JYP Entertainment, responded to these rumors by saying that the comeback details would be revealed soon. But, on that day, JYP Entertainment didn’t announce the comeback officially. After the rumor spread for a month, Xportsnews, a Korean media site, reported that Twice’s next comeback would be on October 26. This report was made on September 25, and this comeback date was fixed on. The official announcement from JYP Entertainment was released on October 1, six days after the report from Xportsnews. JYP Entertainment announced the comeback officially through Twice’s social media accounts. The agency also released the detailed schedule for Twice’s promotional period that day. The album title was revealed on October 6 with the title Eyes Wide Open. Jihyo as the leader of the group once explained that the message of this album can be concluded in one phrase, “Eyes wide open to a new sense.” This title reveal indicated that there would be many previews to be released soon. After the Eyes Wide Open title was released, they released the physical album previews. The physical album previews included a cover, photo books, message cards, posters, stickers, and photo card previews. Five days later, on October 11, the lead single for this studio album was revealed. The lead single revealed is titled “I Can’t Stop Me.” On the same day, they also released a tracklist poster. You can see the Eyes Wide Open tracklist poster here: If you look at the tracklist poster, you will realize that some members participated in writing some sidetracks’ lyrics. They collaborated with some people such as Dua Lipa, Heize, and LDN who also participated in the album’s production. After the release of the tracklist poster, the agency released the group posters, the members’ individual posters and trailers, and the lead single’s teasers from October 12 to October 22. On October 24, the highlight medley video was unveiled through their official YouTube channel. Through this video, you can listen to every highlighted part of each track on this studio album, including “Behind the Mask.” Finally, the long-awaited studio album was released on October 26. This day was also the release day of “Behind the Mask” and the other songs through Twice’s official YouTube and Spotify. After the release, the girls promoted the lead single “I Can’t Stop Me” on various music programs.
Story of “Behind the Mask”
The Eyes Wide Open studio album consists of one lead single and 12 sidetracks. “Behind the Mask” is one out of 12 of their sidetracks. This song was written by Jang Dahye, also known as Heize. Sam Klempner, Jacob Attwooll, Josh Record, and Dua Lipa participated in composing this song. Aside from being composers, Sam Klempner and Jacob Attwooll also arranged this song. Through a Q&A (questions and answers) section in an album unboxing video, Mina said that this song was the hardest song to record for the studio album. This song is about faking your emotions inside a mask. Maybe, people see us as a very happy person or an always smiling person, but, behind the mask, it might be completely different. When a person uses a mask, we can only wonder if that person is really happy or not really happy. But, when we see behind the mask, we can really know that person’s emotions and whether that person feels happy or sad.
MV of “Behind the Mask”
There’s no music video released for “Behind the Mask.” The only music video that is available from this studio album is the music video for the lead single, “I Can’t Stop Me.”
“Behind the Mask” Performance
On October 27, 2020, Twice performed this song once on a special stage made by JYP Entertainment. The stage was called Twice Special Live Replay. On that stage, the girls performed this song with light choreography and a superb filming angle. You can see their performance by clicking the video here:
“Behind the Mask” Achievements
“Behind the Mask” was listed in Beats Per Minute (BPM) in The Top 50 Songs of 2020. In that magazine, this song ranked 43rd out of 50 songs released in 2020. This song has charted on several song charts in various countries. You can see the table below for the song’s peak position on every chart.
