Given their status as a Japanese idol group, NCT Wish have been more active in Korea so far. This seems to be the trend for J-pop groups formed by K-pop agencies. However, they have new Japanese material on the horizon and they’re teasing that now with surprise pre-release Dreamcatcher.
NCT Wish’s material has been extremely hit or miss for me. I’ve loved some tracks and hated others without much middle ground in between. Sadly, Dreamcatcher lands firmly in the “hate” category. In fact, there are parts that feel almost unlistenable to me. When the track isn’t doling out irritating sing-song hooks, it’s spotlighting a vocal performance that frequently borders on shrill and painful. This is not a quality I’ve ever associated with SM acts so I don’t know what’s going on here except for the fact that the song seems to be pitched too high overall.
Rather than a ballad, Dreamcatcher adopts the kind of plonky beat that always gets my hackles up. The tempo plods and the melodic phrasing is equally repetitive, resulting in a track that feels constrained by its own design. Top it off with an annoying “oh wee oh” refrain and you’ve got the recipe for music that goes straight into my recycling bin.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 6 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 6 |
| RATING | 6.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
This really grinds my gears a lot, 6.5 is too generous…
5.75 (6, 6, 6, 5) for me.
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The song takes itself too seriously. It feels like it should be a light romp. Instead we get something that just isn’t fun, so much plodding along, so much autotune
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I’m not sure what it is but the production is just off… maybe the neo is being too forced lol
also ain’t no way they’re singing this live 😭 the chorus is uncomfortably high
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my goodness…
i wanna give a piece of my mind to whoever had them sing this kind of vocal arrangement, as well as to whoever produced this plonky-ass instrumental
ur rating is too generous, this would be a 6, maybe even a 5.75
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Let me be the only comment of praise real quick. I expected something bad based on the rating and comments, but ngl I was getting into it. I like how it builds and it has a satisfying final chorus. And bridge. That’s pretty good for today’s standards. Then again I’m pretty open to enjoying music of (almost) all types. Bad music, good music, music that I don’t tell people I listen to, etc. So I would say that this song falls under my enjoyment umbrella of music.
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