Universe

The record

Universe is NCT’s third full-length album, released on 14 December 2021 with thirteen tracks. The two title tracks are ‘Universe (Let’s Play Ball)’ and ‘Beautiful’. It is a full-group record: songs by the rotating team NCT U sit beside songs by NCT 127, NCT DREAM and WayV.

The album introduction on Bugs, written by SM Entertainment, places the record about a year and two months after the second full-length album that began with NCT RESONANCE Pt. 1 in October 2020. The same text describes the first title track, ‘Universe (Let’s Play Ball)’, as a hip-hop-based R&B dance track carried by an insistent hook, performed by Doyoung, Jungwoo, Mark, Xiaojun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, YangYang and Shotaro. The second title track, ‘Beautiful’, is a pop ballad built on piano and band sound, and every member on the album takes part in it. The introduction adds that three songs treat one subject — dreams — in each team’s own colour: NCT 127’s ‘Earthquake’, NCT DREAM’s ‘Dreaming’ and WayV’s ‘Miracle’.

Reviews

NME’s Carmen Chin reviewed the album three days after release, on 17 December 2021. Chin described it as thirteen songs performed by intermixtures of twenty-one members, and read the record as a gathering of the sound already known from NCT 127, NCT DREAM and WayV. “Beyond the title tracks, ‘Universe’ sees each NCT sub-unit deliver songs that make a case for their distinct flavours of music,” Chin wrote. Of the group Chin wrote that “the boyband continue to showcase their versatility (based on their sheer size alone) and strengths as a group, and this album a signifier of greater things to come”.

Among the tracks

Of the first title track Chin wrote that “as expected of an NCT lead single, ‘Universe (Let’s Play Ball)’ is incredibly layered in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of way – from the layered vocal arrangement and forthright hip-hop beats that sit front and centre to soaring synth flourishes that take you straight back to the ’90s in the background”.

On ‘Beautiful’ Chin wrote: “What makes ‘Beautiful’ even stronger is its lyrics, penned by SM Entertainment mainstay Yoo Young-jin, that tastefully stray away from the edginess that NCT as a whole have built their comfort zone around.” The same review said of the arrangement that “it’s immensely reminiscent of the nostalgia-provoking music SM Entertainment was known for in the 2000s – there’s something arresting about an arrangement as sentimental as this”. The album introduction says the song’s lyrics tell anyone worn out by life not to forget that they are the only one of their kind in the world.

NCT DREAM’s ‘Dreaming’ drew the review’s warmest line: “Last, but definitely not least, is NCT Dream’s ‘Dreaming’, which is an immediate contender for the album’s best track.” Chin went on that “this seamless dance number unexpectedly weaves music box-like synths with house beats and a trap snare, transforming into a top-notch club banger that drops into a deliciously dirty bassline during the chorus”. Of WayV’s contribution Chin wrote that “WayV come through with a sultrier cut that does well stepping away from the usual in-your-face NCT vibe”. Among the NCT U combinations Chin put ‘Round&Round’ first, calling it a synthpop track carried by an electrifying bass.

Around it

The album introduction sets out the year that led to this record in three releases: WayV’s Kick Back in March 2021, NCT DREAM’s 맛 (Hot Sauce) in May and NCT 127’s Sticker in September. The next full-group album, Golden Age, followed one year and eight months later, in August 2023.