[REVIEW] Mark's Solo Chapter Begins With an Acoustic Strum and No Regrets

Mark Lee's first song after leaving NCT could have been a statement about independence. Instead, he chose to begin his next chapter with a song about love, friendship and the relationships that endure through change.

Released Sept. 10, "My Friend" is Mark's first single under Upper Room, the creative company he established after ending his contract with SM Entertainment and concluding his NCT activities in April. Arriving roughly 17 months after his first solo album, "The Firstfruit," the track also serves as the first preview of his upcoming album.

The shift is immediately noticeable. After a decade largely associated with sharp rap delivery and high-energy performances, Mark strips things back on "My Friend." A nostalgic guitar loop anchors the mid-tempo pop track, leaving his vocals and the song's message at the forefront.

At the center of the song is what Mark calls the "ultimate love." He described the track as particularly meaningful to him, explaining that he believes the greatest kind of love can come in the form of friendship. The song keeps that relationship open-ended, allowing the sentiment to extend beyond friendship to anyone who has become a source of comfort and support.

Rather than focusing on the excitement of falling in love, Mark sings about choosing to stay. He promises not to run away, reaches for the other person's hand and offers to be the first person they call when the road turns dark. If he could do it all over again, he says, he would make the same choice.

The song never builds toward a dramatic emotional peak. Instead, its restrained production allows each repeated promise to carry more weight. By the bridge, any uncertainty has given way to quiet conviction as Mark promises not to leave the other person alone and to keep coming back.

Summer runs through the song as both a setting and a symbol of change. References to warmth, wind, light and long nights accompany Mark's repeated hope that the other person will understand his feelings "by the end of summer." The season feels less like a backdrop than the end of one period and the beginning of another.

That imagery naturally mirrors where Mark stands in his own career. He left SM Entertainment in April, exactly 10 years after debuting with NCT, bringing his activities with NCT 127, NCT DREAM and the group as a whole to an end. He later established Upper Room, taking greater control over the direction of his music and creative work.

When explaining his decision to leave, Mark looked back to the dreams he had before becoming an idol. He recalled wanting to busk with an acoustic guitar and spoke about reconnecting with the ambitions he had before his K-POP career took off. Rather than seeing his departure as simply closing a door, he described it as opening a new one.

"My Friend" feels like the first musical step in that direction. Instead of marking his independence with something bigger or bolder, Mark pares things back to his voice, songwriting and guitar. His involvement in the writing, composition and arrangement makes the track feel even more closely tied to the artist he wants to become.

The music video follows the same understated approach. Directed by Gus Black, it favors natural light and open landscapes over elaborate sets and heavy visual effects. Mark is first seen looking out at the city through a large window before the scenery gradually opens into flower fields, forests and wide stretches of nature.

That movement becomes clearest when Mark removes his jacket and runs across an open field. Moving from an enclosed space into the open, the scene echoes his own shift toward a path shaped more directly by his choices. Later, flames cut through the otherwise peaceful landscape, adding a more intense visual note to the sense of change.

The "friend" in the title also does not need a single identity. The song can speak to a friend, partner, listener or anyone who remains present as circumstances change. Mark's own experience adds another layer to that message without defining it entirely.

Musically, the shift becomes clearer when placed next to "The Firstfruit." His first solo album moved between rap, pop and rock while emphasizing the versatility he had developed as a performer. "My Friend" narrows that range deliberately, putting greater weight on his vocals, songwriting and the emotional clarity of a relatively simple arrangement.

That restraint may be the clearest expression yet of Upper Room's "Back to Basic" direction. After a decade of constantly shifting between groups, genres and performances, Mark's first independent release is less about proving what he can do on his own than showing what he wants his music to be.

"My Friend" ultimately offers a quiet glimpse of what comes next. Rather than distancing himself from the decade that shaped his career or declaring how much he has changed, Mark begins his next chapter by showing what he wants to carry forward.