KARA Never Thought This Comeback Would Happen.
Credit: Dreamus
“This is KARA week,” the leader of KARA, Gyuri, wrote on Instagram Thursday.
For the first time in six years, KARA, the wildly popular second generation girl group, returned with a new album “MOVE AGAIN”. The group now comprises five members, Gyuri, Seungyeon, Jiyoung, Nicole, and, most surprisingly, Young-ji, who was added to the group in 2014 after the departure of Jiyoung and Nicole the same year.
“I thought [a comeback] was almost impossible,” Seungyeon shared this week. “I thought we should do something, even if it’s small, but I can’t believe that we came this far. I still can’t believe it. I’m so proud of our members and our fans.”
Their comeback stage was, iconically, held at the Melon Asian Music Awards (MAMA) in Japan. They opened with a medley of their greatest hits, “Lupin”, “Step” and “Mr.” before crashing into their new single “MOVE”. It was an emotional homecoming for the members and a stunning statement to younger K-Pop fans: KARA is still relevant – and yes, they absolutely slay.
What benefits the girls is that KARA’s music feels timeless. "Even when I hear [Mr.] now, it doesn't feel like a song from a long time ago,” Seungyeon said. “When younger people say that they don't know the song, if they hear the chorus part, there are those who go 'Oh this song'. To that extent, it is a precious song that received love from many people."
It’s exhilarating and surreal to see KARA together on variety shows. The member’s friendship and joy to be back together feels genuine. Whether they were cracking jokes on Music Bank or drinking together on MMGT, this comeback feels like a victory lap. They have nothing left to prove and the joy comes from finally coming back together after nearly a decade apart.
“It’s been about nine years since Nicole and I greeted each other as KARA,” Jinyeong reflected. “It feels like I’m back home.”
KARA faced a new beginning in 2014 when Jiyeong and Nicole departed the group. Youngje, a 19-year old trainee, was chosen to join the lineup after she won the survival show KARA Project.
"I was a trainee for almost five years and I really was desperate at the time. I was tired of being a trainee and also tired of the relations I had with people, so I thought KARA would be my final [career] challenge,” she said. She integrated herself into the group quickly, absorbing the choreography and vocals for over 30 songs before jumping into a tour.
Youngji was a natural fan of KARA and while finding her footing with the group could be nerve wracking, the experience was life-changing. In retrospect, becoming a member of KARA was actually the easiest part of her career..
"To be honest, I miss [the members] every moment,” she said. “I still visit the members' Instagram daily.”
Youngji’s feelings reflect what nearly every member of KARA has spoken about in recent years: The disbandment of KARA proved to be the most confusing and challenging part of their careers. The women handled the loss in different ways. Nicole chose to travel and backpacked around Europe for a summer. All of her American friends had experienced college and youth, she said on the Daebak Show, but she had never felt the freedom of time. It felt strange, she said, to sit at a river in Italy and drink wine. But it also brought mixed emotions: Was she being lazy to take time for herself?
For Gyuri, the group’s disbandment felt acutely painful as it was not her decision. Instead, KARA’s end was spurred by the bankruptcy and closure of the group’s agency DSP Media. At times, Gyrui said, she blamed herself for this.
But it was undoubtedly the death of Gu Hara that shattered the women the most. “My heart still hurts so much. It’s not something you can forget, even if you wanted to, so I just keep missing her,” she said a year after Hara’s death. “I believe missing her and keeping her in my thoughts is what I can do for her. We [KARA members] talked about it and we believe the best thing we can do for her is to keep living our best lives.” She admitted a difficult truth for many people who have lived through a suicide. “The thing that makes my heart ache the most,” she said, “is feeling like there’s nothing I can do for her.
Gyuri was shattered by Hara’s death. She related to her feelings of loneliness and low-self worth. But her death also frightened Gyuri. “I’m not at all blaming her, but when Goo Hara passed away, for the first time, my values and thoughts wavered a lot and eventually crumbled. I never would have imagined that someone so beautiful, who received so much love, would choose to leave the world.” Gyuri said this year on an episode of “Oh Eun Young’s Golden Clinic”. Hara’s death shook her. She, too, had felt suicidal and depressed, but this felt inconceivable. “Since my fellow member left like that [by suicide], I also wonder whether it’s okay that I talk about her with regards to my own struggles.”
Gyuri needed space to process how traumatizing the past three years were for her, so in early 2022 she left for Ganyeong for a month. She cut off contact with everyone and did her best to recharge. “My emotions blew up at the end of last year,” she said. “A lot of different situations occurred and overlapped with one another and I think my energy reached rock bottom. I thought, ‘I can’t handle this anymore.'”
Hara’s presence is missed in this comeback. She, too, deserved her roses and to feel that her contributions to the group mattered. As the girls gather to drink, reminisce and promote what a special group they created, I miss Hara’s presence.
“Welcome to my place,” the women of KARA sing in“Happy Hour”, the opener of “MOVE AGAIN”.
“Put down the days you’ve endured for a while.” The song is an invitation: Put your sadness behind you and come dance with the girls you loved so many years ago. “I’m in the moment I’ve been hoping for so much,” they sing with a coy wink about the group’s comeback.
The happy hour KARA invites us to turns into a party in the music video for “When I Move”. This song is KARA in peak form. It’s a sparkly anthem that pays homage to their original sound that was once defined by the production of Sweetune. The video opens with Jiyeong lighting a candle for KARA’s anniversary. The girls are gathered around a table with champagne and cake. At the head of the table is a spot and glass for Hara. It took six years to come back together, to share a drink and reminisce about how their history shaped them. It’s a powerful and moving image.
“MOVE AGAIN” asks listeners to join the ladies of KARA on the dance floor. There’s little time for sadness on the album. Instead, the girls are looking towards a brighter future. You might have grown up listening to them and danced to “Step” in your bedroom or you may be a new listener, someone intrigued by who these badass women are. Find yourself and find your freedom under the disco of KARA’s resilient return.
