Myeongseok Kang: Nine people crouch with their palms on the ground, posed like wolves. The nine boys are the members of &TEAM as they begin their performance of “War Cry,” the lead single off their new album, First Howling: NOW. They crouch down again at the end of the performance as they do at the beginning, but this time their bodies heave—like wolves panting heavily. “War Cry” follows wolves who had been quietly crouched and staring forward who we then see “piercing the silence” of “twilight’s prelude” with their “sound,” “throwing” themselves “from this den” as they “cast it aside, confront the world,” breathlessly running, fighting, and howling. They find themselves in a world that’s simultaneously strange and wild, but they come together in the middle of their circle, fingers outstretched like deadly claws, and begin to howl. They even move their shoulders as they make their bodies look as big as possible, coming forward and singing, “Now is the perfect timing.” Like in the opening and closing, they again crouch down, their legs firmly planted to the floor as they move the rest of their bodies aggressively. Gone are the bipedal humans, given way to sharp-clawed wolves ready to fight on all fours. Nine wolves move as one. The lyrics encapsulate the meaning behind &TEAM’s performance as they reveal themselves to be the werewolves to the world (“Can you feel it? Can’t believe it? Can you hear it?”). They were living in a “den” all that time because they couldn’t disclose their secret to the world, and now they have to take on the wild side of the world anywhere they go. In order to show their true faces to the world, they must come together, gather their strength, and prepare for a fight against it.

In DARK MOON: THE GREY CITY, the webtoon starring werewolf characters with connections to the &TEAM members, the protagonists wander between cities looking for reprieve, only to be ostracized. As the group performs what the lyrics to “War Cry” suggest, the song takes the GREY CITY werewolves’ emotions and experiences and transports them to First Howling: NOW. The album’s second song, “Dropkick,” contains the lyrics, “Yeah, with you … We’ll start running towards the future,” and the boys sing it with such brightness that it’s as though they’re running beneath sunny skies as they do. The chorus—“won’t leave you standing by yourself”—sounds like a reaction to seeing their hopes for the future dashed after being rejected by the world just for being the way they are. Next on the album is “Really Crazy,” a song about how wonderful it feels to get to know someone but also about “not being scared.” “ALIEN,” as the title gives away, explores how they see themselves as outsiders (“let’s follow our hearts”). Here, NOW shows its overarching narrative idea of those who were once ostracized like aliens going on to reveal their true selves to the world and experience happiness before preparing to leave again. In that sense, that someone they’re getting to know isn’t just someone who makes them happy but a member of the group whose ranks “resonate as one” to “someone’s distant howl” and “initiate a challenge” with them, as in the lyrics to “War Cry.” Just as in DARK MOON: THE GREY CITY, if those who are ostracized are going to make their way in the world, they have to form a group with those who they can trust. The &TEAM debut trailer opens with a single perspective of the world and the line, “Wolves run.” The world is seen from a wolf’s perspective, and the group’s performance of “War Cry” infuses the album, and the entire First Howling series, with the same perspective. The nine members of &TEAM are transformed into wolves, stretching out their arms and legs, moving with their core muscles tightened throughout the entire performance. Singing, “Form a herd, initiate a challenge,” the group members move as one like a herd of giant, wild wolves, but even when they break from the line and move in their own directions, the movements are still perfectly in sync. It’s that kind of thrilling, perfectly timed movement that only a group as new and fresh as &TEAM can execute, living up to the teamwork their name suggests. When the boys take to the stage, they’re more than just the characters from their webtoon; the group choreography comes together thanks to their individual strengths, the group’s astounding teamwork, and the sheer amount of practice they put in. Indeed, they truly become wolves as they dance. &TEAM debuted last year, made up of four members selected ahead of time and five more who made it through the show &AUDITION - The Howling. They may have all come from different countries and spoken different languages, but those human-imposed limitations now seem meaningless. They’re all wolves.

Lee Jiyeon: “Where are you? I’m simply searching.” Listening to the intro of &TEAM’s debut song, “Under the Skin,” we hear a boy crying out to find someone with the same thoughts and dreams as he has in a world of isolation. A faint voice replies “I’m right here, I’m right here,” growing in intensity until it’s practically “howling.” The First Howling world of ME moves onto its next chapter with that encounter and opens up to WE. And while those two albums were about the journey to “the moment our eyes meet” and we at last hear their “voices overlapping” (“FIREWORK”), the group’s latest album, First Howling: NOW, represents the true starting line where people brought together race into the world as one. The &TEAM members stare determinedly into the camera in the STARTLINE version of the concept photos, ready to kick off at full speed from the white line painted across the stadium grounds. They stand poised to take “the young” version of themselves, “cast it aside,” and “confront the world” (“War Cry”). What pushes them to take their running start onto the “Road Not Taken” is the group’s solidarity—that they’re “like” each other and can “resonate as one,” telling each other that “you’re not alone” (“Dropkick”).

The themes of solidarity and resonance aren’t just key to &TEAM’s three albums to date, but fundamental to who they are as a group as well. The nine boys’ shared dream brought them together from disparate places—namely, two highly competitive audition shows, I-LAND and &AUDITION - The Howling. The latest album brings the entire First Howling series together, and it’s plainly clear that the story it tells is the very story of &TEAM themselves, which explains why this new release, their first studio album, opens with tracks “War Cry” and “Dropkick,” showing where the group’s at, and wraps up with “The Final Countdown,” “Melody,” and “Running with the pack”—the theme song of the TV show that marked the birth of the group, as well as the last two songs they tackled on that same program. The album includes 18 tracks, which together document &TEAM’s past and present—a record of their journey to become one unified group. They started with ME—nine separate people—became one team (WE), and NOW those once faint voices crying out in search of each other come together to send one thunderous “War Cry” out into the world. As they leap headfirst into this brand-new world, they’re “sure we’ll be / Stronger, much more” (“Dropkick”) with complete and utter belief that they can “form a herd, initiate a challenge” now that they’re together.