By Gezim Dervishi
NCT, one of the biggest South Korean boy bands, returned strong with their fourth full-group album, “Golden Age.” It speaks on NCT’s best moments in their time since their 2016 debut “The 7th Sense,” with members Mark, Doyoung, Taeyong, Ten, and Jaehyun. In fact, the title track “Baggy Jeans” has the same five members participating as the NCT U subunit, since their members do not stay fixed from album to album. “Golden Age” seeks to return to their roots and give their fans, called NCTzens, a blast from the past.
NCT, belonging to the large Korean entertainment company SM, is a group of now 20 members, losing Lucas, Shotaro, and Sungchan in the same month for various reasons. NCT, standing for Neo Culture Technology, was born out of a vision that Lee Soo-man had for an “endless group” with localized subunits. The group is supposed to span the world, implementing “culture technology,” a term coined by Soo-man himself describing the implementation of foreign members into the Korean pop stage. Currently, the group consists of 20 members all divided into five subunits. Two of these subunits follow the worldwide theme of the group, and the remaining three are not related. NCT 127, the Seoul subunit, consists of the older nine members: Taeil, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Doyoung, Jungwoo, Jaehyun, Mark, and Haechan. WayV, the China subunit, consists of the Mandarin-speaking members of the group: Winwin, Hendery, Xiaojun, Kun, Ten, and Yangyang. The three other subunits are not localized in any way, like the teen-based subunit NCT Dream, with members Mark, Haechan, Renjun, Chenle, Jeno, Jaemin, and Jisung. NCT U is a rotational subunit, borrowing as many members as it wants for certain songs. Each full-group album has NCT U songs involving every member at least once.
NCT generally releases albums within subunits, but seeks to release an annual full-group project, starting first with “Empathy” in 2018. It seems as if “Golden Age” took inspiration from this first album, deciding it was time to go back to their roots and remind themselves of what they started with. NCT sings in “Baggy Jeans,” the 2023 analog to “The 7th Sense,” that the listener doesn’t know “what is in [NCT’s] pocket,” alluding to the fact that they always have something new up their sleeve with their experiments in K-pop. “Call D,” featuring Ten and Taeyong, calls back to their 2018 analog “Baby Don’t Stop.” “Call D,” feeling like a phone call in of itself with the number-punching at the beginning and the operator tone at the end, references the “D” in “danger.” The duo warns against it, singing “don’t call D,” and telling the listener to call them instead. This 2023 song contrasts with “Baby Don’t Stop” through its electronic beat, bringing a softer, yet still prominent beat with less abrupt pulses. The album was expected by fans to contain four additional songs being produced by each of the subunits, even the new DoJaeJung. However, no such songs were included and only ended with 10 songs in total, ranging from a ballad in “Not Your Fault” to a sports anthem-type song in “Alley Oop.” The album also features various styles, surprising some listeners in “PADO” with a similar vibe as label-mates EXO, and giving others a mellow palate cleanse with “Interlude: Oasis.” However, some were not so moved by this fourth comeback because they were still captivated by the 2021 album “Resonance.”
“[I] like this album, but I prefer the energy that “Resonance” has. ‘Make A Wish’ was a whole lot better than ‘Baggy Jeans.” However, “Call D” and the full-group song “Golden Age” are experimental, energetic, and melodic,” said first-year Veronica Evans.
Others cited “Universe,” released back in 2021, as the better album in terms of music and visuals.
“[‘Golden Age’] is a pretty good album, not the best one but also not the worst,” said first-year Samuel Coronado.
Overall, there are mixed opinions on the new album, but NCT did give listeners a well anticipated annual comeback.
Comments