Neo Zone (also known as NCT #127: Neo Zone) is the second Korean studio album (third overall) by the South Korean boy band NCT 127. Preceded by the music video release for "Dreams Come True" on NCT 127 Day, January 27 (1/27), the 13-track album was released through SM Entertainment and Capitol Music Group on March 6, 2020. Neo Zone contains various musical genres from hip hop, R&B, funk, to electro-pop, which aimed to create a soundscape that broadened the group's sonic vision. The repackaged version of the album, titled NCT No. 127 Neo Zone: The Final Round, was released on May 19, 2020.
Several music critics noted the album's strong 1990s hip hop and R&B influences and the experimentation with various sounds. The album was commercially successful, becoming their fifth chart-topper on the Gaon Album Chart while earning the group their first top-five entry on the Billboard 200 chart, with first week sales of 87,000 album-equivalent units. As of April 2020, the album had sold over 805,000 copies in South Korea, becoming the group's first release to receive a multi-Platinum KMCA certification. The repackage gave the group their sixth number one title on the Gaon Album Chart, and rose cumulative sales of the record to over 1.2 million copies.
Three singles were released from Neo Zone: including the pre-released "Dreams Come True", the lead single "Kick It", and the repackaged album's single "Punch". To promote the album, the group performed on South Korean music programs including Music Bank, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo, while becoming the first K-pop act to perform at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The group originally planned to embark on their first U.S. arena tour; titled "Neo City – The Awards" from June 6, 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
Background and release
Neo Zone After wrapping up promotion activities in the United States by the end of November 2019, SM Entertainment uploaded a music video for "Dreams Come True" onto the group's official channel, along with the release announcement for NCT #127: Neo Zone on January 27, 2020. The label further confirmed that member Jungwoo would re-join and participate in the group's promotion activities following his initial hiatus from August 2019. This marked Neo Zone their first release since Neo City: Seoul – The Origin in October 2019, their first original release since We Are Superhuman in May 2019 and their second full-length album, following Regular-Irregular and its repackage in late 2018.
On February 12, the group released a 90's-influenced "timeline" video for the album on all social media platforms of the group, including a release schedule and announcing "영웅 / 英雄 (Kick It)" as the lead single. It was then followed by several track videos previewing other songs from the album. before the music video teaser for "Kick It" was uploaded on the official SMTown channel on March 3, 2020. The album was eventually released both physically and digitally on March 6, 2020, with two different versions N, C, and different album covers. The T version was released later on March 20, 2020, while the Kihno version was released on March 27, 2020. With the exception of the album's interlude, the remaining album tracks of Neo Zone were uploaded fully onto the group's official channel, thus making it the group's first release to do so.
Neo Zone: The Final Round Following the commercial success of Neo Zone in March 2020. SM Entertainment announced on April 7 that a repackage version of the album, titled NCT #127 Neo Zone: The Final Round would be released sometimes in May 2020. The release date was later confirmed to be on May 19, 2020, with four new tracks including the third single, titled "Punch". The first image teasers of the repackage edition, which contains a similar release schedule like the original release, was revealed on NCT 127's official Twitter account. A 22-second music video teaser for "Punch" was released onto the group's native label YouTube channel on May 17, 2020, three days prior to its official premiere. The album was eventually released in all formats on May 19, while the physical release date for United States was scheduled to be on June 12, 2020, instead. The repackage is available in two versions, featuring a CD-R with all seventeen tracks, photo booklet and collectibles accordingly to the package artwork. Similar to their previous release, three new songs from The Final Round was uploaded onto the group's official YouTube channel as well.
Recording and production Recording process for the album took place at SM Studio, located in Seoul, South Korea. The production for Neo Zone however, started sometimes in early 2017 as American production team The Stereotypes had their own songwriting camp for SM Entertainment, not long after their work for Bruno Mars's 2016 studio album 24K Magic. Meanwhile, South Korean songwriter and producer Deez was seeking for something "new and fun", having worked on three other songs at the same time. He eventually reached out to the production team, looking for any unused track that "has the "That's What I Like"-vibe" among the demos they had for Mars' album. As the team played their demos on laptop, Deez eventually chose one that matched what he was looking. Together with songwriter Bianca "Blush" Atterberry, he managed to complete "Love Song", with the original demo was said to contain "more harmony" than the final version. The recording process for this track was, however, completed "in a very short time", though the producer said "Love Song" was "difficult to sing". After returning from a song session in the United States during sometimes in 2018, Deez participated in another SM songwriting camp, where he produced the uptempo track "Love Me Now" in "about four hours". Even though the song had a more pop-oriented sound, he used R&B elements to "build a more Pop-tic but a little unusual topline", with the result being "satisfying". With "Dreams Come True", the composers originally had NCT 127's 2018 single "Touch" in mind, with British production team LDN Noise creating a basic loop. Deez and songwriter Bobii Lewis then wrote additional arrangement; including piano and musical variations, bridge and main Moog lines to complete the track first. It was eventually a favorite from the A&R executives, and the first track to be recorded by the members. For the lead single "Kick It", the group recalled having to record the hook up to late at night. According to producer Deez, the song was "revised and multiplied" for about a hundred times from end of December 2019 to early February 2020. Co-produced with American producer Dem Jointz and SM songwriter-producer Yoo Young-jin (whom worked with the group during their recording session), the song was originally prepared to "gird the loins" for "Cherry Bomb 2.0", with the outcome being "stronger" than the 2017 single. With the song's beat loop created by Abernathy, Deez constructed and composed the bridge and the dance break section with the idea of "maintaining" the "harmonic vocal color" and "extensively energetic" chord work, thus giving an R&B arrangement to bring out a "trendy and old-school" color to the song. Member Taeyong and Mark were said to have recorded their rap parts in one-take to their preferences, and proceeded to arrange all the qualified cuts later with the album's producers. As the album wrapped up its recording process, Deez was requested by the label to create an additional instrumental prelude, which he produced by using excerpts of "Kick It" to create an "oriental" interlude shortly before the album release in March. In addition to his initial composition contribution, Deez also took part as the vocal director for "White Night", a collaboration between American producer Harvey Mason Jr. (former member of The Underdogs), The Wildcardz production team and SM songwriter Kenzie. He further revealed that the recording session for the track was "quite long" due to the traditional R&B elements compared to the group's previous R&B works. In addition to the usual lyrical contribution by Taeyong and Mark, member Johnny also took part in writing for two songs in the album, namely "Pandora's Box" and "Love Song" with his aforementioned two group members.
Composition
Neo Zone
Described as a "diversified selection" of mainly hip-hop and "slinky" R&B cuts with strong 1990s influence, the 13-track album also includes elements from funk, trap, noise-pop, metal, dance-pop and EDM music. The album opens with "Elevator (127F)", a "feel-good" midtempo dance number with funk elements and 90's R&B influence which is "refreshing" and "perfect" for an album opener, according to the members. It was proceeded by the album's lead single "Kick It", a "powerful" hip-hop dance record with heavy metal guitar riff and R&B elements throughout the song. Produced by American producer Dem Jointz, South Korean songwriter Deez, Ryan S. Jhun, Mayila Jones and Rodnae "Chikk" Bell, with Yoo Young-jin took part in the song's arrangement, the song tells how the members overcome their own traumas and fears to become the "heroes" they are, thus fitting the Korean title of the song. The third track "Boom" is a "half-dreamy and half-beat-driven" song that contains a "unique" melody change as the melody hook of the song starts. It was co-written and performed in demo by American singer and songwriter Bazzi, whom member Mark is a huge fan of. The album continues with "Pandora's Box", a "jazzy, slow-burning" 90's-influenced R&B track produced by producer Erik Lidbom. With lyrics co-written by member Taeyong, Mark and Johnny (whom participated in writing lyrics for the first time), the boy group channels their "endearing cheesiness" as they compare their love interest to that of a Pandora's box. The fifth track "Day Dream" is described as a "mysterious, dream-like" track by the members, with "memorable" lyrics based on Alice in Wonderland while showcasing the group's "ethereal" vocals.