Welcome back to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. This week, let’s talk about the new LP from NCT 127. As always, if you haven’t already, feel free to subscribe to my companion newsletter to get Fan Chant delivered right to your inbox each week!
I have a theory about the new music video for “Walk,” the title track off the latest album from NCT 127: Mark Lee walking on water wasn’t conjured through special effects. I feel like he can just do that.
For anyone still working on mastering the expansive universe of NCT as a whole (current count: 26 members across six interweaving sub-units and teams), let’s zoom in for a moment. NCT 127 is the unit comprised of members Taeyong, Taeil, Jaehyun, Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Jungwoo, Mark, and Haechan. Even within an experimental group, NCT 127 have established themselves as especially intrepid; from the jump, these guys set to work identifying how “neo culture technology” could really sound, employing wildly inventive beats, glitches, and sonic flourishes you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere in K-pop.
Take 2019’s “Superhuman,” for example, where what could have been a standard upbeat anthem becomes overwhelming in energy. And as something of a “Sticker” apologist, I genuinely think this is the only team of performers that could have risen to the challenge of confidently putting a personal touch on such an unhinged track.
Now, the guys are here with their sixth album, which sees them fully in their strike zone. On the focus track, record scratches offset the committed vocals from the team’s capable vocalists. One of the things that feels most fun about watching NCT 127 perform is the fact that they’re unafraid to embrace humor or absurdity; between the focused moments of choreography and performance in the music video for “Walk” is a landslide of silliness.
In a time when many albums across genres are getting shorter and shorter, it’s refreshing for WALK to clock in at 11 full tracks. There’s the playful “Orange Seoul,” overflowing with nostalgic energy, while “Gas” is brimming with confidence. The siren in the background of the latter song, which mimics a skidding car, is quintessentially 127-coded. For anyone looking for a starting point for this group, WALK is here, right on time.
Watch the music video for “Walk” below, and scroll on for the full album.
Song Rec of the Week:
While this isn’t my favorite choreography of theirs — am I wrong, or do these vibes not quite match up? — I love KISS OF LIFE’s energy and sound.