Track Listing
- Moonlight
- Stupid Cupid
1. Moonlight
I don’t know what it is with NCT DREAM’s Japanese releases but they’ve been surprisingly solid and kept the NEO vibe outside of their careers (pretty much leaving them as the B-sides). Moonlight is really good and the kind of brighter synth-heavy mid-tempo is just working for me as it did back in “Best Friend Ever”. I like that there’s a lot of focus on the vocalists as I hear a lot Renjun, Chenle, and Haechan. I actually don’t really get much from Jisung nor Jeno in the track, but they have their little moments, but still small compared to the rest of the group. Regardless, this is a great track and that chorus is sooo good!!
2. Stupid Cupid
Unlike the previous single, it seems that the B-side is actually an original track! I wasn’t expecting the introduction to the track, but this leads into what I feel like NCT DREAM is kind of like now in Korea with the last couple of leading tracks. It’s got a coolness vibe and has more of the hip-hop style that we’ve seen in some songs like “Glitch Mode”, “ISTJ” and “Smoothie”. Though I do feel like it’s missing that aggressive punch to make it pop out better. I will say this also does much better at including all the members more. Definitely wasn’t expecting a song like this though, so it kind of worked for me especially since it’s the only other song on the single.
I can only wonder what NCT DREAM is really trying to do with their Japanese work, but it’s definitely working as Moonlight is even better than “Best Friend Ever” was though I’m surprised it took over a year to release their 2nd Japanese single. MOONLIGHT overall was a really strong single from them as the leading song was surprisingly relaxing and catchy at the same time while Stupid Cupid is kind of more of the sound we’ve been getting out of the group. Really good stuff here and if they’re heading towards an eventual album, I’m excited to where this goes *RECOMMENDED*
Kurayami Monogatari 