After the struggle to release his previous album Lament For The Numb, Dobbyn returned to New Zealand.

Fellow New Zealand musician Neil Finn had also just returned to the country with the ending of Crowded House and was happy to have the opportunity to work on another artists' album.

Dobbyn credits Finn for giving the album much of its sound.

[2] All tracks are written by Dave Dobbyn, except where notedThe US release featured an altered track list, and three songs from Dobbyn's previous album Lament for the Numb.

In 2009, New Zealand rock journalist Graham Reid described Twist as "the album of Dobbyn's career.