Moments in Timelessness

Go Back To The Future Album ∙ K-Pop ∙ 2025 NCT DREAM Ever since  Back to the Future  was first released in 1985, the phrase “Back to the Future” has evoked a sense of boundary-breaking adventure. The Hollywood blockbuster works surprisingly well as inspiration for K-pop boy group NCT DREAM’s fifth studio album. As part of the sci-coded SM Entertainment project Neo Culture Technology (aka NCT), the septet has experience taking on a high-concept theme. But more than that, NCT DREAM is a group that started with one concept—an ever-rotating lineup of teen idols—before settling into a fixed, seven-member lineup. The fates of members MARK, RENJUN, JENO, HAECHAN, JAEMIN, CHENLE, and JISUNG could have been much different, and NCT DREAM uses the movie, about a teen boy who travels back in time to when his parents first fell in love only to inadvertently erase his own existence, to inspire a look back at their own group origins. “BTTF” (short for “Back to the Future”) fully embraces its...

DREAMSCAPE Album ∙ K-Pop ∙ 2024 NCT DREAM NCT DREAM has always been the most whimsical of NCT’s many subunits. Originally conceived around a “graduation” concept that would see the group’s teen members leaving upon maturation, the K-pop group has been singing about the wonders of youth since their fresh-faced debut in 2016. By 2024, the vocal stylings and thematic explorations of the now fixed-member group have matured along with its seven members. MARK, RENJUN, JENO, HAECHAN, JAEMIN, CHENLE, and JISUNG are no longer singing about “Chewing Gum,” but rather the complexities of searching for something better. NCT DREAM’s fourth album,   DREAMSCAPE , is an ’80s-inspired, fairy-tale-like follow-up to   DREAM( )SCAPE . If   DREAM( )SCAPE   explored the pains and anxieties of contemporary early adulthood, then   DREAMSCAPE   wonders what possibilities await those who are able to escape those burdens. Like with so many pop music discographies, that escape often co...

DREAM( )SCAPE - EP ALBUM ∙ K-POP ∙ 2024 NCT DREAM