NCT DREAM Set November 9 Release for First Album as Six Members

A 10th anniversary album at a turning point

NCT DREAM will release their sixth studio album, DREAM AFTER DREAM, on November 9, 2026, bringing out 10 tracks at a moment of major change for the group. Led by the title song Boogie Woogie, the record will be their first release as six members following Mark's departure in April.

SM Entertainment says all tracks will arrive on music platforms at 6 p.m., with the physical album also released on November 9. Preorders began on October 16 at online and physical music stores. The announcement was dated October 16 in most release details, although October 15 was also given for the agency's announcement.

The album follows two milestones beyond the lineup change: the remaining members have renewed their contracts with SM Entertainment, and the group celebrated 10 years since its debut on August 25. DREAM AFTER DREAM therefore brings an anniversary project together with the start of a new period under renewed contracts.

Its title means dreams that continue endlessly. SM describes the album as a look back at the members' shared achievements and musical growth, while expressing their determination to pursue goals beyond those they have already reached.

For listeners, the central development is concrete: a group whose recent concerts featured seven members will introduce its next studio album with six. Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung make up the current lineup. Their next scheduled major appearance comes just five days after the release, at the Melon Music Awards in Seoul.

What is confirmed about the music and release?

Boogie Woogie is the lead song among the album's 10 tracks. SM says the project will present a wider musical range while connecting the group's past decade with its next goals. The full track list, songwriting credits and detailed musical direction have not yet been disclosed.

DREAM AFTER DREAM is a full studio album, unlike the group's previous release, the EP Beat It Up. An EP is usually a shorter collection of songs than a full album. Beat It Up arrived in November 2025, placing the new record roughly one year after its predecessor.

The digital and physical releases share the same date, giving listeners access to the songs online while buyers can also obtain the album in a physical format. The announced 6 p.m. time applies to the online release of all 10 songs.

A teaser image released alongside the news features the letter D drawn on a green lawn. It gives the campaign a simple visual starting point, while the album title supplies the main message: the group's story continues after earlier ambitions have been fulfilled.

Who is returning after Mark's departure?

Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung will carry the new release following Mark's exit from both NCT DREAM and SM Entertainment in April to pursue a solo career. DREAM AFTER DREAM is the first opportunity for listeners to hear a new album from this six member lineup.

The release also follows the members' contract renewals with SM. That places the album at the intersection of two changes: a smaller performing lineup and a renewed relationship with the company that has managed the group since its debut.

March provided the final concert chapter for the previous lineup. NCT DREAM ended their 2025 to 2026 world tour, The Dream Show 4: Future the Dream, with six shows in Seoul. Those performances were their last concerts as seven members, ahead of Mark's departure the following month.

November's album therefore follows a clear sequence rather than an isolated personnel announcement: the tour ended, Mark left, the group reached its anniversary, and the remaining members prepared their next release. The album's focus on continuing toward new dreams arrives within that sequence.

How the group reached its 10th anniversary

NCT DREAM debuted on August 25, 2016, with Chewing Gum. The multinational group began within the wider NCT project with a graduation system: teenage members were expected to leave when they reached age 20. Membership change was originally part of the group's structure.

The graduation approach ended around the April 2020 EP Reload, and NCT DREAM settled into a lineup of seven. Mark's departure in April 2026 brought another change, this time after years in which those seven members had established a shared recording and concert history.

The anniversary album draws on both parts of that history. NCT DREAM began as a group built around youth and a changing membership, then developed a more settled identity. The current six members are now continuing that identity after the departure of a longtime colleague.

Key dates show how the new release fits into the group's development:

• August 25, 2016: NCT DREAM debuted with Chewing Gum.
• April 2020: Reload marked the period when the group moved away from its graduation system.
• November 2025: The EP Beat It Up was released.
• March 2026: Six Seoul concerts closed The Dream Show 4: Future the Dream.
• April 2026: Mark left NCT DREAM and SM Entertainment.
• August 25, 2026: The group reached its 10th debut anniversary.
• October 16, 2026: Preorders opened for DREAM AFTER DREAM.
• November 9, 2026: The new album is scheduled for digital and physical release.

A decade of songs about youth and growth

Chewing Gum established the youthful starting point that SM now places at the beginning of the anniversary story. My First and Last, Hot Sauce, Hello Future and Beatbox are among the releases that carried that story forward, alongside Candy, ISTJ and BTTF, also known as Back To The Future.

The group's wider catalogue includes We Young, Boom, Whale, Music Box and Polaris. Together, these songs give the anniversary project a substantial history to draw upon, rather than a single breakthrough moment. Youth, ambition and growing up have remained recurring themes as the members themselves have grown older.

SM's description of DREAM AFTER DREAM brings those themes into the present. The record is intended to reflect on what the members have built together while expressing their appetite for another goal. Its focus is on continuing to make music after reaching earlier targets.

For fans who followed the group from Chewing Gum, that connects the anniversary to the new lineup. The same group name and continuing themes now sit alongside a different membership, making the forthcoming songs the next part of an existing story.

The sales and concert record behind the comeback

Beat It Up became NCT DREAM's 10th consecutive release to sell at least one million copies. That gives the November album a specific commercial benchmark: it follows a run of 10 releases that each reached the million mark.

The group's achievements also include grand prizes at major music award ceremonies. In Korean entertainment, these top awards are often called daesang. NCT DREAM have combined those awards and album sales with performances at major stadiums and dome venues in South Korea and overseas.

The six Seoul concerts that ended their latest world tour are especially relevant to this comeback. They were both the conclusion of a touring cycle and the final concerts with Mark, placing a large shared performance milestone immediately before the membership change.

DREAM AFTER DREAM now follows that established scale of activity. Its commercial setting is a group with repeated million sellers and experience at major venues; its creative setting is the first new record from the remaining six members. Those two facts make the release more than a routine anniversary marker.

A Seoul awards appearance follows five days later

NCT DREAM are scheduled to perform on November 14 at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome, on the first day of MMA2026, the Melon Music Awards. The appearance falls five days after the album's November 9 release.

Melon announced NCT DREAM as part of the event's third lineup and confirmed their November 14 appearance in its final day-by-day lineup. MMA2026 is scheduled for November 14–15 at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome, marking the awards' first expansion to a two-show event.

The dates place the new music and a major public performance close together. Listeners will have access to the album before the awards appearance, while the members will return to a large Seoul venue during the opening week of the release.

For now, the immediate schedule is straightforward: preorders are underway, the album is due on November 9, and the awards performance follows on November 14. Across those dates, NCT DREAM will move from marking 10 years of history to presenting their next chapter as six members.

At a Glance

• DREAM AFTER DREAM is scheduled for release on November 9, 2026, with all 10 tracks available online at 6 p.m.
• Boogie Woogie is the title song. The physical album is also due on November 9.
• The record is NCT DREAM's first release since Mark left in April and since the remaining members renewed their SM contracts.
• The current members are Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung.
• The group celebrated its 10th anniversary on August 25. Its previous EP, Beat It Up, became its 10th consecutive million seller.
• Melon has confirmed NCT DREAM's November 14 performance at Gocheok Sky Dome on the first day of MMA2026, which runs November 14–15.