Exclusive: NCT DREAM Gets Personal About The Meaning Behind "DREAM( )SCAPE," Active Participation On The Album, And More

NCT DREAM is making their highly-anticipated comeback!

On March 25 at 6 p.m. KST, NCT DREAM will unveil their new album “DREAM( )SCAPE” along with the music video for the title track “Smoothie,” a hip hop dance track that conveys the positive and confident message of taking the cold gaze of the world and the negative feelings about oneself and blending them into a smoothie that they can drink.

In order to celebrate the release of their new album, NCT DREAM held a press conference to dish on their latest music release.

“DREAM( )SCAPE” marks NCT DREAM’s first comeback in approximately eight months since “ISTJ.” The entire album conveys a message to those without dreams and hopes and offers an escape from reality, which is why the title refers to “dream escape.”

The press conference began with the members explaining the title and concept of the album. Regarding the “hole” in the middle of the title created by the parenthesis, Jeno revealed, “The parenthesis refers to the meaning of escape. It’s like a door and like an escape from a dream.”

Renjun further elaborated on the concept behind their new album. He shared, “If you look at the teaser photos, our upper bodies look normal, but our feet are covered in bruises. This reflects how people may seem normal on the outside but have hidden scars that don’t show.” Jeno pointed out, “This album reflected a lot of Renjun’s ideas as well as the ideas of many of the members,” highlighting NCT DREAM’s active participation in the production of the album.

Renjun further shared, “We’ve shot a lot of aspects highlighting ‘dreams’ and ‘hopes,’ but after giving it more thought, we wanted to give strength to even those who don’t have dreams and hopes.”

Touching on the B-side tracks, Haechan shared, “‘Carat Cake’ is a very exciting song. It’s the song with the highest BPM in our album. While recording the song, I wanted to make it very unique and not boring, and all the members prepared really well for the song. Personally, I really like this song.”

Jaemin added, “I was very excited while recording. At the end of the chorus, I added in a lot of diverse ad-libs, which will be fun to find.”

Regarding the B-side track “UNKNOWN,” Jisung shared, “‘UNKNOWN’ is a song that I personally think that fits the topic of this album very well. It conveys comfort with its lyrics,” explaining that it’s a song he enjoyed a lot. Mark and Jeno also talked about participating in the rap making for the album, revealing how they practiced outside the practice room to make the rap portion even more interesting.

On “Breathing,” Chenle shared, “It’s an emotional song, and it’s my favorite. Four members participated in writing the lyrics.” Jaemin continued, “It’s also my favorite song. It conveys strength by saying, ‘I can breathe because of you.’ I thought of NCTzen (NCT’s fan club) while writing the song, and it conveys my feelings for them.” Renjun and Haechan additionally asked listeners to focus on the vocals of the song. Renjun powerfully conveyed, “Rather than recording with my vocal cords, I recorded with my emotions.”

NCT DREAM also touched upon their title track “Smoothie” and its choreography. Jisung elaborated, “The choreography is very intense. It feels like the hardest choreography so far. During the chorus, we actually hold back the power, which differentiates [this choreography] and makes it even more attractive.”

Talking about how the concept of the album is reflected on all the songs on the album, Mark shared, “We got the question of if there is a story we wanted to tell. Like Renjun mentioned, we’ve shown a lot of our bright side, but thinking realistically, we also have dark times and times where we didn’t have dreams. That’s why we all wanted to make an album aimed for youth [who also felt that way].”

When asked about the “transformation” they made through the new album, Renjun shared, “You could call it a transformation, but like I’ve mentioned before, NCT DREAM is always maturing together with fans. Rather than a sudden transformation, it’s continuous growth,” expressing his desire to interpret the word “dream” in many different ways.

Haechan further added, “I hope fans think that we are not confined to a certain genre or concept and think that we can also pull off these concepts well.”

Regarding the acting they had to do for the teasers and music video, Mark shared, “I thought all the NCT DREAM members are good at acting. Renjun’s acting was really great.” Renjun remarked, “Many cameras and the staff were all looking at me, so I thought I should finish in one take for it to be less embarrassing for me. Plus, I could immerse into the story because it was relatable to me.”

Jaemin expressed excitement for NCT DREAM’s upcoming world tour “THE DREAM SHOW 3,” which will kick off in May. He shared, “We made lots of good memories while meeting worldwide fans, and starting from our next world tour, I feel as if we can show that NCT DREAM has matured.” Sharing that the group prepared many new things, Jaemin conveyed, “I’m really looking forward to it.” Mark similarly expressed his excitement, saying, “The life of the concert is its story. The story of this concert and this album is certain.”

Furthermore, Mark and Renjun expressed their resolve to star on various programs with Mark mentioning that he wants to appear on Psick University.

Finally, the members talked about the key word “youth.” Haechan shared, “Youth is linked to the word ‘dream,'” explaining that the group will continue to dream going forward. Renjun shared, “Youth is passion.” He added, “I gain strength when I hear that our fans have also gained strength because of us.”

NCT DREAM will unveil “DREAM( )SCAPE” on March 25 at 6 p.m. KST. Check out the teasers for the title track here!

Also watch NCT DREAM in “Boys Mental Training Camp 2”:

Watch Now