''Candy'' is the fifth

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP) by South Korean boy band

NCT Dream NCT Dream () is the third sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT (group), NCT, formed by SM Entertainment in 2016. They were initially intended to be the teenaged unit of NCT with an admission-and-graduation system, in which members would l ...

. It was released digitally on December 16, 2022, and physically on December 19, 2022, by

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...

through Dreamus. Marketed as a special winter

mini-album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

, the EP consists of six Christmas-themed tracks, including its lead single of the same name, originally released by H.O.T. in 1996.

Background

NCT Dream released their second studio album, '' Glitch Mode'', in March 2022, followed shortly afterwards by its

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...

, '' Beatbox''. It became their second release to sell more than 3 million copies after ''

Hot Sauce Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa (sauce), salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of Mass production, mass-produced hot sauce exist. History Humans have used chili peppers and other ho ...

'' (2021). The album charted at number one on the

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Koreabased on their Record sales, physical sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, ...

in South Korea, while in the United States it was their first entry on the ''Billboard'' 200, charting at number 50. In support of the release, they embarked on their third

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

, The Dream Show 2: In A Dream, in September 2022, visiting South Korea and Japan. A

concert film A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert, by either a musician or a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian. Ea ...

, ''NCT Dream The Movie: In A Dream'', documenting their opening concert held in Seoul was released in theaters in November. That same month, the group announced they would release their first Japanese single, "Best Friend Ever", in February 2023.

Composition

The EP includes six Christmas-themed tracks. "Tangerine Love (Favorite)" is described as a retro song featuring "

funky Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mi ...

analog synthesizer An analog synthesizer () is a synthesizer that uses Analogue electronics, analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a var ...

s. "Take My Breath" is described as a mid-tempo pop song, with lyrics about a "shy" confession. "Moon" is described as a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

song led by a piano melody. "Walk with You" is described as a

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

pop song that follows the same storyline of the group's 2017 track "Walk You Home" from their first EP '' We Young''. "Graduation" is described as a R&B song that harmonizes the vocals with the strings. It was highlighted as the standout track of the EP by Jeff Benjamin of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''.

Release and promotion

NCT Dream first hinted at a new release during an

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live broadcast on November 17. The next day,

released a teaser video clip featuring snow falling on an illustrated house named after NCT Dream covered in Christmas-themed decorations, including bows, mini Christmas trees, candy canes and peppermints. It served to announce the group's fifth

(EP), ''Candy'', titled after its lead single of the same name, originally released by H.O.T. for their debut studio album '' We Hate All Kinds of Violence'' (1996). On November 21, it became available for pre-order in both online and offline stores. Winter themed teaser images of the members wearing colorful outfits reminiscent of H.O.T.'s stage costumes were released on December 2, and were followed by individual teaser images of the members, released from December 4 to December 9. Marketed as a special winter

, the EP was released digitally on December 16 and physically on December 19. NCT Dream performed "Candy" alongside their previous single " Glitch Mode" at the

2022 KBS Song Festival The 2022 KBS Song Festival () was the 12th edition of KBS Song Festival, broadcast live from Jamsil Arena by Korean Broadcasting System, KBS 2TV at 8:30 pm Time in South Korea, KST on Friday, December 16, 2022. A total of 24 teams were invi ...

on the same day of release. The group performed "Candy" and "Graduation" on South Korean music show ''

Show! Music Core ''Show! Music Core'' (), or simply ''Music Core'' is a South Korean music television program broadcast by MBC. It airs live every Saturday at 15:30 (KST). The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. I ...

'' on December 17. NCT Dream held a live broadcast on social media platforms

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and

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to commemorate the release on December 19. On December 21, the group performed all of the album's tracks at their fan meeting held at Peace Hall,

Kyung Hee University Kyung Hee University (KHU; ) is a Private university, private research university in South Korea with campuses in Seoul and Suwon. It was founded in 1949. Kyung Hee University is part of the Kyung Hee University System, which offers comprehensive ...

, hosted by H.O.T.'s member

Kangta An Chil-hyun (; born October 10, 1979), known professionally as Kangta (stylized sometimes in all caps and formerly as KangTa; ), is a South Korean singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, actor and radio personality. He is well known as a ...

. It was broadcast on

Beyond Live Beyond Live (commonly stylized as Beyond LIVE) is an online live concert streaming service and concert series by South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment in partnership with Naver. It is a paid concert streaming service. It provides ...

Pop-up stores

Three pop-up stores were opened in

Seongsu-dong Seongsu-dong () is a '' dong'', or neighbourhood, of Seongdong District, Seoul, South Korea. It is further subdivided into Seongsu-dong 1-ga and Seongsu-dong 2-ga, and is served by Ttukseom Station and Seongsu Station on Seoul Subway Line 2 and ...

, Hongdae and Yeonhui-dong on December 20. Fans reportedly queued from dawn on the day of the opening and formed lines of over 3,000 people in front of each store to get the exclusive photo cards sold with the EP.

Commercial performance

Despite being a special mini-album, ''Candy'' achieved 2 million pre-orders, according to SM Entertainment. The EP debuted at number 28 on the ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

'' Japanese Hot Albums in the chart issue dated December 21, 2022, and two weeks later it peaked at number two. It debuted at number eight on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

Digital Albums in the chart issue dated December 26, 2022.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{NCT Dream 2022 EPs Korean-language EPs Christmas EPs NCT Dream EPs SM Entertainment albums