NCT 127’s Sticker drops soon – here’s what we know about the K-pop album so far
- NCT 127’s third Korean LP might have a connection with one of The band’s older releases – fans have spotted potential connections between it and Cherry Bomb
- Its concept, involving a university and hacking, might link Sticker with material from other SM Entertainment artists too. Aespa featured both in their content
K-pop boy band NCT 127 are soon to return with their third studio album, Sticker.
There’s not a whole lot known about the album yet, but here’s what we know so far.
The single and the album share a name
The 11-track LP is fronted by Sticker the single, and will feature a variety of genres. Several members have writing credits on the album. Taeyong and Mark wrote the rap verses on the lead single, described as a “hip-hop-based dance song with an addictive flute sound and a bold baseline blended with strong vocals”.
It, like several past NCT 127 singles, was co-written by SM Entertainment producer Yoo Young-jin and US producer Dem Jointz.
The album features 10 other songs: Lemonade, Breakfast, Focus, The Rainy Night, Far, Bring the Noize, Magic Carpet Ride, Road Trip, Dreamer and Promise You.
There may be some callbacks to older NCT 127 albums
Fans were quick to draw connections between one of Taeyong’s promotional images, where he’s eating cherries, and a similar one associated with the band’s 2017 song Cherry Bomb.
It’s not the only similarity. The animated, bright style of the photos is evocative of imagery associated with the era, and the pink used to promote the Cherry Bomb EP and the green being used to promote Sticker are complementary colours on colour wheels, perhaps hinting to some relationship between the releases.
The kicker? Dem Jointz and Yoo also worked on Cherry Bomb.
NCT 127 may be part of a bigger story
The band began promoting the album soon after members Haechan and Jungwoo launched their Instagram accounts, joining the rest of the 127 Neos on the platform.
All of them began promoting “NCIT”, which proved to be a play on “Neo Culture Institute of Technology”, a fake university the release could be associated with, as concept images and clips show them changing from casual students studying coding to charismatic hackers.
The NCIT imagery caused minor controversy when a poster was spotted that looked to have been inspired by one used years ago by American punk rockers Downtown Boys.
After it came to Downtown Boys’ attention and they tweeted about it, the outsourced graphic design company that worked on the NCT 127 project apologised to the US band and their graphic designer for using the poster as reference without permission.
One promotional video asking “Do you want access to the STICK?” imitated some elements of Aespa’s fictive storyline, which features the four members and their virtual counterparts entering a virtual world known as Kwangya – which has also been referenced in other NCT releases.
More information is set to arrive as the album release draws closer. NCT 127 has released a schedule with upcoming promotional releases that lead up to the arrival of Sticker.
