Earlier this year, NouerA released my favorite debut of 2025 so far. Their N.I.N (New Is Now) was the rare track that fully referenced an old-school K-pop sound — modern global trends be damned! In an era where so many new K-pop songs simply sound like western pop tracks performed in Korean, it was refreshing to hear a new group deliver something so specific to K-pop’s history. And though new title track N (Number Of Cases) doesn’t work nearly as well as its predecessor, I’m heartened to see them playing in that same musical sandbox.

Only two singles in, I can easily pinpoint NouerA’s sound. It’s a crunchy electro groove punctuated by blasts of rap and many structural twists and turns. Now that we’ve got the recipe down, it’s just a matter of finding great songs. In this regard, N (Number Of Cases) is more prickly and abrasive than I would have liked. It feels as if the producers wanted to veer NouerA closer to a Stray Kids style. So, in between smooth, exciting choruses we must suffer the guys grumble-rapping over dull beats. This is most apparent during verse two, which largely jettisons the stylish vamping that opens the track. N‘s impish finale is also an underwhelming dud, closing the song on an afterthought rather than a highlight.

This overall messiness obscures some genuinely great moments. The song opens with panache and the chorus has great crunchy texture that’s very satisfying. These are the elements I want NouerA to lean into further. They have a very strong rap line, but those verses could (and should) be paired with equally galvanizing instrumentals. Judging from the mini album preview, there’s much stronger material sandwiching this title track, so I guess we’ll just chalk N (Number Of Cases) up to growing pains.

Grade: B-