Within the lead-up to their first Korean mini album, NCT Want have already delivered the SHINee-esque pre-release Dunk Shot. Now, they’ve given us one other style of what’s to return with the lighter pop of 3 Minutes (3분까진 필요 없어). I’m assuming this isn’t the title observe because the album doesn’t arrive till subsequent week, however I’m definitely not one to complain about extra promoted music.

By now, it’s clear that NCT Want are focusing on the same market to early NCT Dream, providing vibrant jolts of bubblegum pop with simply sufficient edge to tie them into the NCT model. 3 Minutes sounds essentially the most Dream-like but, pulsing alongside retro synth stabs and candy melodies that may have seemed like a nursery rhyme in numerous context. The group’s youthful voices praise this sugary sound, making the idea really feel genuine to them.

The track’s manufacturing throws in just a few band components for good measure, including rock percussion that helps anchor the in any other case buoyant instrumental. The association is extra complicated than it lets on, even when 3 Minutes is constructed upon a comparatively easy sequence of hooks that repeat typically. The observe is extra ‘quirky facet quest’ than ‘epic journey,’ and that strategy will probably slot in properly on the album. Now I’m much more curious to listen to how their title observe will sound.

Grade: B