The album by the eighteen-member South Korean boy group NCT, or Neo Culture Technology, called Empathy was released in early March and topped the charts in both the K-Pop and Pop genres on the Apple Music charts.

    This was the first full album to be released by the group that includes new songs by each subunit of NCT and also the title song “Black on Black” that includes all eighteen members of NCT.

    The other units such as NCT 127, NCT U and NCT Dream have also released new songs on this album as well.  

     The title song for NCT Dream sends a powerful message to the listeners.

     The song “Go” puts an emphasis on breaking stereotypes and shows the rebellious side of the group of younger members.

      This was not the only concept change seen in this album, however.

      NCT 127 is known for their concept of sticking to more of a hip hop kind of feel along with a faster beat.

      “Touch” by the NCT 127 unit has a lighter feel that shows off another side of the members. 

      While this song seems kind of out of place with songs like “Boss” and “Go,” but it is a catchy song that helps to show off what NCT is all about with their different concepts.

     NCT U made a total of two new songs to be featured on this album, one with two members and the other with seven members.

     While this may seem like overkill by having two new songs by the same unit, but in order to include all eighteen of the NCT members it was necessary for another new NCT U song to be added.  

     The rest of the songs on the album include an intro and outro along with the top NCT songs since the group debuted in 2016.

     This includes: “Timeless,”  “Without You,” featured in both the Chinese and Korean languages, “The 7th Sense,” and “Dream In A Dream.”

     While many wish that this album would mainly focused on the new songs that were released, having the old songs to showcase the skills of all the members was also an absolute must.
     Overall, this album has a balance due to a large range of old and new music allowing for a large range of music to be covered.

     The slow song “Timeless” gives the listener a nice break from the faster paced songs like “Baby Don’t Stop” and “Black on Black.”

     The song “Dream In A Dream” is also sung completely in English and has a great beat to dance to.

     Empathy is available digitally on iTunes, and physical copies can be found on Amazon.   

    To check out the live performance of “Touch” by NCT 127, click on the video link above.