NCT 127 Turn 10 With 'Blingy,' Their First Album in Two Years

NCT 127 are back with Blingy, their seventh studio album, in the year the group turns 10, and two members serving in the military are still finding their way into the work.

Rolling Stone reports that the return comes with "Did You Miss Us?" billboards in the group's trademark "neo" green across major cities worldwide, along with pop-up shops, a 10th-anniversary website and a new tour opening in Seoul next month.

Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun and Haechan sat for the interview while Doyoung and Jungwoo finish their service. Jaehyun said the five built Blingy together, two years after the last NCT 127 album.

The absent pair are not out of the picture. Doyoung and Jungwoo appear on "127 Million Miles." Jaehyun said Jungwoo has been studying the practice and choreography clips posted in the group chat and noting what he likes, and Yuta said Doyoung drops by the practice room on days off and buys everyone food.

Yuta said the reunion has felt familiar:

"We're together now with new NCT 127 music for the first time in two years, so it's been a while, but when we're in a green room, for example, when we get together and just chat, it makes me realize we haven't really changed much from when we first debuted. In a good way."

The routines are still coming together. Yuta said they had run "Blingy" in full only twice, drilling it in sections otherwise. Jaehyun called the choreography a real test of stamina and said he is happy with what they made for both "Blingy" and "Piñata," whose hook stacks every member's voice.

The art loops back to the start: the debut EP and the new album share a camo pattern drawn from a map of Seoul, colored like a poison dart frog. Johnny said the jet concept photos were shot on a green screen with a small seat and toy-like props, and the results surprised the members.

Johnny and Taeyong helped write "I Mean, It's About Time." Johnny said its line "Like a book you read again" is about revisiting a story a decade later and finding it hits differently.

America runs through their memories. Johnny said a fan at a signing two days earlier begged, "Please come to Phoenix," though they have already been there. Haechan recalled a month on a tour bus during their first North American run, and Jaehyun remembered dancing to "Regular" with Mickey Mouse at Mickey Mouse's birthday party.

Taeyong said he wants NCT 127 known for great live shows, and Johnny wants bigger venues and bigger crowds, to "make our own records, and break the records." That push starts in Seoul next month.