Song Review:: NCT Dream (NCT): Go Back to the Future- Chiller

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  • Release date: 2025 July 14

  • Album tracklist: BTTF, CHILLER, I LIKE IT, DREAM TEAM, Interlude : Back to Our Paradise, 'Bout You, That Summer, Miss Me, Beautiful Sailing

  • Album runtime: 27 minutes

 I don't understand why SM keeps putting NCT subunits' comeback dates so close to each other. Like, yes, I know that there are fans of the individual subunits, and that's fine because for the most part, I think you could think of them as separate groups. There's not a lot of Whole Group Activities, you know? At least not that I'm aware of. But at the same time, I know there are also a lot of people who are NCTzens (and I finally learned how to pronounce that this weekend, so, yay me). But this happened back in November as well, right? I'm not even a fan, and that's frustrating.

These instrumentals at the beginning remind me a lot of VHS tapes from the 80s and 90s. Also, and I think it's worth noting, I'm reminded a lot of the Friday the 13th game. So that's kind of where my expectations for where the song should go, and then it shifts to something a lot more hip-hop. It's still staying with that older sound, but we're now lingering in the 90s hip-hop. The most important part of the song is when most of the instrumentals get stripped out, except for a skittering beat that maintains the energy so that when the song kicks back up, the momentum is continued, but the ret of the song following it feels louder because of the relative softness. It's good sound design and most effective when the quiet is impactful enough to make a statement on its own. Coming at the end like this is tricky, and I don't think we get enough time for it to really settle especially as the subsequent "loud" section doesn't have enough time to extend and really let that energy go afterwards.

We get vocal layering and harmonizations, and those two things aren't relegated to only shouting sections. I don't think I'd call them chants for this one. But that's okay. I'm reorganizing the shouting thing as a generic shortcut for hip-hop and its subgenres. Again, "generic" is not bad. I'm simply using it with its "adherence to genre conventions" definition.. I can practically hear the live performance. But we have actual harmonies even with the genre and because of them, while I prefer to hear more singing than rapping or shouting depending on the case, even I'm more willing to accept parts I'm less fond of. The vocal showcase is there. So I'm down with this.

Ooh, so that's a blend of animation and live action, which is absolutely something I love, as we know. There's a storyline, which is one of the few things I ask for in a music video, even if it isn't particularly strong. It's weird and has a mascot character to it, so really what else does it need?



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