Seven years in the past, when Gyuri, Seungyeon and Hara left KARA, they did so with the promise that the group wasn’t disbanding. However as their lives modified – and the Okay-pop world bid a tearful farewell to member Goo Hara in 2019 – a way of finality settled over all of us. Regardless of the members insisting they meant to reunite sometime, the group’s run from 2007 to 2016, superb because it was, felt prefer it was changing into a time capsule.
Certainly, ‘Transfer Once more,’ KARA’s fifteenth anniversary particular album, doesn’t really feel like the beginning of a brand new chapter. Tinged with pleasure, nostalgia and disappointment, this four-track EP feels extra like a gaggle of buddies lastly reuniting for the road-trip they all the time promised one another. They may not have crossed paths in years, nor do they know the place they may go, however on this second, they select to have a good time their particular bonds.
This loving reverence manifests on ‘Transfer Once more’ as songs that evoke the youthfulness and pleasure of KARA’s wider discography. Whereas not terribly boundary-pushing nor genre-bending – the music stays within the attribute KARA pop zone – the lyricism does deserve credit score for its emphasis on the group’s emotional maturity. “A second that felt like an prompt, I gained’t let go of the small reminiscences, we’ll by no means say goodbye, see you subsequent time, all the time in my coronary heart,” the group sing on album opener ‘Glad Hour’. The mid-tempo pop-track is the proper reintroduction to the group: nostalgia hits as they harmonise effortlessly over an easy-going tune.
This cheerful reunion feels extra vital in gentle of the acknowledgement of their struggles and losses on the sluggish, sparse ‘Oxygen’. Supported solely by poignant guitar, the group allay their insecurities about strolling down unknown paths by specializing in the reminiscences that drive them ahead. “In a time that was like a dream, shining numerous instances, stuffed with tales that don’t know the tip, I can really feel it even in the event you don’t inform me” – the group’s subdued singing paints a profound image of their time collectively.
KARA stability this intimate look into their previous with a jovial celebration of the current. ‘Shout It Out’ dials up the exhilaration with bouncy dance-pop – a simple pay attention that isn’t notably memorable. The pièce de résistance of ‘Transfer Once more’, nonetheless, is the title observe ‘After I Transfer’. Groovy guitar and synth-bass accentuates a nu-disco and dance-pop-inspired association. The group enhances it with seamless, buttery vocals: low-key, restrained notes explode right into a medley of harmonies on the refrain.
Probably the most refreshing side, of ‘After I Transfer’, nonetheless, is the way it confidently embodies their maturity. KARA’s materials was laced with wide-eyed naivete as not too long ago as their final title observe (‘Cupid’ from the 2015 EP ‘In Love’). ‘After I Transfer,’ alternatively, is infused with the form of self-assurance that solely comes with age; KARA are doing issues on their phrases with out worrying concerning the penalties.
The title already clued us in, however ‘Transfer Once more’ is an album about second possibilities. It’s an album for KARA and KARA alone – a metaphorical protected area for its members. By acquainted sounds, they mirror on their journey and private development, as if taking out an previous shoebox stuffed with reminiscences after a very long time and discovering that your perspective has modified for the higher. Poetically, it looks like one other promise: regardless of the place they go, they may all the time have KARA to return to.
Particulars
- Launch date: November 29
- Report label: RBW Leisure
