Fact Check

The record

Fact Check is NCT 127’s fifth full-length album, released on 6 October 2023. It carries nine tracks and the title track is ‘Fact Check (불가사의; 不可思議)’ — 불가사의 is the Korean word for a wonder or a mystery, the sense the label plays on. SM Entertainment’s album introduction on Bugs calls the song “a dance number in which an Afro rhythm is added to a fierce main synth loop”, and describes lyrics that liken the group to a work of art and to a wonder, things that hold their value for good. The Korea Herald reported that the record marked a fresh start as the group reached its seventh anniversary, arriving about a year after the fourth full-length album 질주 (2 Baddies).

Reviews

IZM ran Yeom Dong-gyo’s single review in October 2023. He opened with the sentence “production is NCT 127’s strength”, and wrote that “the way they weave outlandish materials together and set down emphasis point by point has worked as the group’s own distinguishing feature, and they have realised powerful tunes without leaning on the chorus”.

Mimyo took up the record in his column for Weekly Donga (주간동아). “Confidence and headlong energy are everywhere,” he began, and wrote that “the bass line, built out of synthesisers, is on the simple side, but it comes in striking the ear firmly with a sharp and weighty aggression and leaves a clear impression”. Of the chorus he wrote that “the chorus, which the nine members fill for the most part with a cold shout, is fierce and at the same time bracing in its momentum”. He closed: “The experience of a solid wall of nine driving hard through a breathless beat shows a kind of completed form that K-pop, and the boy-group business in particular, has steadily been reaching for.”

Among the tracks

Both pieces stop at the rap on the title track. “What stands out most is the presence of the rap,” Mimyo wrote, and: “The song is driven from the front by Mark and Taeyong, two outstanding rappers who have proved a skill that comfortably passes the common prejudice about the ‘idol rapper’.” Yeom picked out the same song’s Afrobeats and its addictive chorus part, and read the lyrics — which cite Banksy and the Mona Lisa in calling the group a wonder — as carrying the confidence of a boy group in its seventh year.

On the melody and the way the parts are shared out, Mimyo wrote that “the melody, through a fitting steadiness and its curves, comes in and drops away effectively and pulls the frame of the song along”, and that “the way the parts are shared out among the members in particular is exquisite”. He added that “the thrilling dynamism this vocal handling creates is what lets you enjoy the members’ appealing sides on this song to the full”. Of the music video he wrote that “the appearance of Geunjeongjeon Hall at Gyeongbokgung and the Olympic Bridge in this song’s music video is a far bolder, more startling and sharper choice”. The album introduction sorts the other eight tracks as the mid-tempo pop of ‘Space’, the hip-hop of ‘Parade’ and ‘Je Ne Sais Quoi’, the rock of ‘Angel Eyes’ and the pop of ‘Yacht’.

Numbers

The Korea Herald reported that the album came in the seventh year of a group that debuted in July 2016 — the point at which exclusive contracts run out. The same outlet reported that Taeyong told the press conference the seventh year carried a special meaning for the team. Two months later, on 22 December, the group released its first winter special single, Be There For Me.