The Sound is the debut Japanese-language studio album and third overall by South Korean boy band Stray Kids.

[3] The album's title, The Sound, alongside the track listing, main promotional images, and each edition's cover artworks, were revealed on January 16, 2023.

[10] 3Racha—an in-house production team of Stray Kids members Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han—wrote and produced most songs on the album.

[17] The group also partnered with Spotify Japan for a stamp rally to attend a special pop-up exhibition at Magnet by Shibuya109 in a week of the release date,[18] and FamilyMart for limited goods.

[19] Stray Kids appeared on the covers and gave interviews for magazines Nylon Japan,[20] and Aera.

[22] On March 5, Stray Kids appeared on the Nippon TV's variety show Gyōretsu no Dekiru Sōdansho for breaking foam walls to surprise Japanese actor Rihito Itagaki.

[26][27] The group held the encore shows for Maniac World Tour in Japan on February 11–12 at Saitama Super Arena and 25–26 at Kyocera Dome Osaka.