On August 17, 2020, Dreamcatcher released their fifth mini-album, Dystopia: Lose Myself, along with the music video for title track “BOCA.” The mini-album features an intro, four new tracks, and an instrumental version of “BOCA.” Handong was absent from this album as she was still in China due to COVID travel restrictions.

The Music Videos

The music video for “BOCA” picks up right where the music video for previous title track, “Scream,” left off, with the girl group walking away from the tree. We’re then treated to Dreamcatcher dancing and strutting down a neon-lit hallway, a far departure from other music videos the girl group has released in the past. In fact, “BOCA” saw the horror queens go a completely different direction in terms of their rock-influenced tracks, embracing a more Latin-inspired beat in the beginning before going full on rock’n’roll for the choruses. There’s also a hint of traditional Korean instruments heard in the background of the second verse.

The music video seems to focus on the girls in this beautiful utopia, surrounded by flowers and blue water, before switching back to the neon hallway. The most interesting choreography shots are the ones of Dreamcatcher in their all-black outfits while dancing in the blue waters of the utopia, showing the blending of the dystopia into the utopia.

A “K-Zombie” music video for “BOCA” was released 10 days before Halloween, with the girls dressed like they came straight off the set of Kingdom. 

The Comeback Performance

Dreamcatcher had their comeback for “BOCA” on August 20, 2020, where they performed on M!COUNTDOWN dressed in the all-black outfits seen in the music video. The stage design did a great job at displaying the dystopia bleeding into the utopia from the music video. The flowers along the fencing showed the beauty of the utopia, but the actual design of the fence showed the scariness of the dystopia. Paired with the background screens transitioning from purples and blues in the verses and a dark and ominous red for the choruses, this comeback performance of “BOCA” is one of the best in terms of displaying the lore of the track.

The Legacy

Unfortunately, Dreamcatcher didn’t take home any music show wins or end-of-year awards for this comeback. The group was nominated at the Soribada Best K-Music Awards for the “Popularity Award” and would later go on to win the “Best Global Artist (Taiwan)” award at the Top Ten Asia Awards, where fans voted to see which groups would take the top spot in various Asian countries, with Dreamcatcher beating boy group SF9 in a tight race.

“BOCA” debuted at No. 58 on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart and at No. 11 on the Billboard U.S. World Digital Songs Sales Chart. Dystopia: Lose Myself debuted at No. 3 on the Gaon Weekly Albums Chart before dropping off the chart the following week. As of writing, “BOCA” is the Dreamcatcher music video with the most views on YouTube, sitting at just over 35 million views, with “Odd Eye” closing in at 32 million and “Scream” at 28 million.

While these accomplishments may seem small in comparison to other groups, Dystopia: Lose Myself was Dreamcatcher’s best selling album thus far and we hope to see them continue to rise. After all, as more and more girl groups expand into the horror territory, it’s only a matter of time before people start looking back at the queens who started it all and we can’t wait for the rest of the K-Pop world to embrace Dreamcatcher.