The trailer for BOYNEXTDOOR’s new album “No Genre” is a series of contradictory desires. JAEHYUN, for instance, wants to not feel pain while taking a punch hard enough to knock out two of his teeth. TAESAN, aggressively smashing up a car, takes a moment to try and move a snail out of harm’s way. And when the rest of the group is playing in the rain, SUNGHO shields himself and his feelings with an umbrella. In “Dangerous,” the lead single off the group’s previous album, “19.99,” the boys dreamed of a new, unknown world, singing, “Let’s hang together until sunrise, being alone is scary.” But now they understand that they can be hurt, they can be hurtful, and the crest of every wave of joy has the potential to plunge into deep sorrow. “Meaning? Theme? Who needs stuff like that?” they sing in the album’s lead single, “I Feel Good.” Here, they’re after more than just a little escape or change of pace—they’ve adopted a new, apathetic outlook. They’re done being “19.99,” they’re done being “20” and “can’t hear the answer,” and they’re done worrying about “meaning” or a “theme.” Now they confidently declare “I Feel Good” and that they’ll “live for today and not overthink it” when they dance.

On their earlier breakup-themed album “WHY..” and its lead single, “But Sometimes,” BOYNEXTDOOR was dealing with much more intense feelings in their lyrics (“Get lost, come on”). On “123-78,” the opener to “No Genre,” though, they make light of suffering a “heart [that] took hit after hit” with brisk brass and rhythmic drums. The way they miscount in the spoken-word part underneath their singing underscores the humor that underlines the whole thing. For BOYNEXTDOOR, love is no longer something they pour their worried hearts out over but a subject that can be handled in jest. The track “Is That True?” deals with the emotionally fraught experience of seeing an ex with someone else: “Dark storm clouds above my head / Filling up, close to tears.” But again, this contrasts with the playful way they sing the word “seriously?” in the chorus, and the breezy, lively vibe imparted by the funky rhythm and bright strings. The clashing music and message tinges the song with bittersweet irony where being sad is something you can’t cry about forever. The lead single, “I Feel Good,” is underpinned by a fast, funky rhythm and the boys practically shout the chorus, giving the whole song a high-energy dance vibe. And yet, as the beat quickens, they come to the line “Follow me, do it just like this,” their deep voices paired with a subversion of the expected peak. The repetition of the title against the minor key continues on with the idea of complicated, contrasting feelings, living as if there’s no tomorrow. Until now, BOYNEXTDOOR has been known for their authentic portrayal of young emotions—thrilling love, angry breakups, blooming self-confidence—but “No Genre” plays with their emotions to present something more realistic and nuanced.

As the title of the album suggests, genre is not something that defines BOYNEXTDOOR—it’s one of their tools. In “123-78,” the lively brass and lyrics like “My baby Georgia, baby Georgia / Can’t take my eyes off you” and “L - o - v - e” harken back to iconic 1960s hits. But unlike those older songs celebrating love or feeling nostalgic for love lost, “123-78” turns it around, depicting the ugly scars of love with tongue-in-cheek lines like, “Without a single sock remaining / You left me, so here’s to you, cheers.” In “I Feel Good,” the group pays homage to the Michael Jackson song “Billie Jean,” arguably one of the most famous songs ever recorded, with WOONHAK’s vocal hiccup (“We steppin’ out now, yeah, turn it way up / Feel hiccups comin’ on, yeah feel like I’m MJ”) and when they dance the moonwalk. The group even embodies the whole image, playing air guitar alongside the lyrics “Beat drop, head nod, act like a rockstar.” But as the words suggest, they’re merely putting on an “act,” portraying themselves much more lightheartedly than the highly charismatic people they’re imitating. In this way, what they’re really capturing is the realistic image of young people who want to dance like their favorite stars. In short, “No Genre” pays tribute to various genres and styles but recontextualizes them in imaginative new ways, and in the process, turns age-old musical styles into a new tool for expressing the complex emotions unique to today’s youth.

In the No Route version of their concept film for the album, the BOYNEXTDOOR members attempt to use vintage cassette players and cameras, though they don’t actually know how to operate them. When the boys eventually venture outside, the change of scene feels like freedom at first, but they’re actually being monitored by binoculars and security cameras. The change of scene feels like freedom at first, but they’re actually being monitored by binoculars and security cameras. It almost seems to reflect the world as the younger generation experiences it today—hard pressed to create something new and original when they’re bombarded by relics of the past and the world insists on a constant watchful eye. In that sense, BOYNEXTDOOR’s music, which draws from the world around them to express conflicted feelings in novel combinations, feels like it speaks to a new option for young people to make their voices heard. Against the band playing “IF I SAY, I LOVE YOU,” BOYNEXTDOOR self-deprecatingly sings, “To use my memories / To write another song / There’s nothing I hate more than that,” and, “Music is nothing but / One big emotional black hole.” They aren’t actually singing about themselves, but there’s a real sense of the hyperreal when you can’t stop singing or writing songs even when you’re going through a painful breakup. Plus, “IF I SAY, I LOVE YOU” became the group’s first song to enter the Top 5 of the Melon TOP100. In “I Feel Good,” BOYNEXTDOOR loudly sings words that are practically in every Korean person’s blood: “Follow me, do it just like this.” But on the contrary, BOYNEXTDOOR’s world isn’t one that can be easily imitated. There are countless genres out there, and it feels like there’s a rule in place everywhere you turn—but it feels like the new generation is moving on to a place where they can raise their voices.