Awaken is the first full-length Japanese album (second overall) by South Korean boy band NCT 127, the second multi-national sub-unit of NCT. Released by their Japanese label Avex Trax on April 17, 2019, the album was the second major release for the Japanese market from the group and their first to not feature Winwin, who was on a hiatus due to his participation in WayV's promotion. SM Entertainment's founder Lee Soo-man served as the album's executive producer, with lyrical and musical composition contributed by Andreas Öberg, Sebastian Thott, David Amber, Jung Youth, Tony Esterly, Jonny Shorr, LDN Noise, Deez, Adrian Mckinnon, Mike Daley, Yoo Young-jin, Harvey Mason Jr., Dem Jointz, MEG.ME and others. A hip-hop and R&B-heavily dominant record, Awaken contains songs corporating elements from pop and electronic music, performing in Japanese, Korean and English in order to "continue" the story from their first Japanese extended play Chain (2018).[1]
| Awaken | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Digital cover | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 17, 2019 | |||
| Recorded | 2016–2019 | |||
| Studio | SM Studios, Seoul, South Korea | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Language |
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| Label | Avex Trax | |||
| Producer | Lee Soo-man | |||
| NCT 127 chronology | ||||
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| NCT chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Awaken | ||||
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Upon its release, the album debuted at number four on the Oricon Weekly Albums chart with 53,042 copies sold in its first week of its release, as well as at number 14 on the Oricon Weekly Digital Albums chart with 978 downloads, becoming the group's third top five entry on the former chart.[2][3] To promote the album, NCT 127 embarked on their first Japan concert tour, titled Neo City – The Origin. The album also spawned two singles prior to its release, namely the Japanese version of "Touch" on September 16, 2018 and "Wakey-Wakey" on March 19, 2019.
Background and release
editAfter making their debut in the Japanese market with the extended play, Chain, in 2018, NCT 127 released their first Japanese studio album, Awaken, on April 17, 2019.[4]
It was released in fourteen versions: a limited CD+DVD edition that reverts to a regular edition once depleted, a limited CD+Blu-ray edition that reverts to a regular edition once depleted, and nine limited CD member editions that revert to a regular CD edition once depleted. All limited editions came with one trading card of nine types.[5]
The music video teaser for the lead single, "Wakey-Wakey", was released on March 17, 2019, and the full music video was released on March 18, 2019.[6]
Promotion
editIt was announced in August 2018 that NCT 127 would embark on their first nationwide Japan tour, Neo City – The Origin, starting in Osaka on February 2, 2019, with a total of seven stops in Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Saitama and Osaka.[7]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Lips" |
|
| 3:06 | |
| 2. | "Wakey-Wakey" | 3:02 | |||
| 3. | "Chain" | 3:42 | |||
| 4. | "Regular" (English version) |
|
| 3:40 | |
| 5. | "Touch" (Japanese version) | 3:10 | |||
| 6. | "Blow My Mind" |
|
| 3:48 | |
| 7. | "Limitless" (Japanese version) |
|
| 4:08 | |
| 8. | "Long Slow Distance" |
|
|
| 4:25 |
| 9. | "Kitchen Beat" |
|
|
| 3:29 |
| 10. | "Cherry Bomb" (Korean version) |
| 3:56 | ||
| 11. | "Fire Truck" (Korean version) |
| 2:58 | ||
| 12. | "End to Start" |
|
|
| 3:30 |
| Total length: | 42:54 | ||||
Charts
edit| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Digital Albums (SNEP)[9] | 121 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[10] | 4 |
Release history
edit| Region | Date | Format | Distributor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Various | April 17, 2019 | Avex Trax | |
| Japan |
References
edit- ^ "NCT Website". nct-jp.net. Archived from the original on 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2020-05-25.
- ^ "オリコン週間 アルバムランキング 2019年04月15日〜2019年04月21日 | Oricon News". Archived from the original on 2019-04-24. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- ^ "オリコン週間 デジタルアルバムランキング 2019年04月15日〜2019年04月21日 11〜20位 | Oricon News". Archived from the original on 2019-04-25. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
- ^ "Awaken by NCT 127 on iTunes". iTunes. Archived from the original on 2019-04-16. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
- ^ "2019年4月17日（水）発売 NCT 127 Japan 1st Full Album『Awaken』購入者特典＜特典イメージ画像公開". Archived from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
- ^ "本日、NCT 127 Japan 1st Full Album 『Awaken』リード曲の「Wakey-Wakey」ミュージックビデオを公開". Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
- ^ "NCT 127 1st Tour 'NEO CITY : JAPAN - The Origin'". Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
- ^ "Korea Music Copyright Association."마크 (10012921) on KOMCA"". Korea Music Copyright Association. Archived from the original on December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ "NCT 127 - Awaken (1st Japanese Album): French Album Charts - Week 16, 2019". Snep Musique. April 19, 2018. Retrieved 2019-05-26.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2019-04-29" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved April 24, 2019.