It seems faintly surreal that in the year of our Lord 2024, Kara are releasing a new summer single. After all, they disbanded over eight years ago, and while they did a special reunion for their 15th anniversary, that was a delightful surprise more than a harbinger of things to come. Yet Nicole, Gyuri, Seungyeon, Jiyoung, and Youngji have announced a new Japanese tour, heralded by a new single in both Korean and Japanese, “I Do I Do”.
If pressed to describe “I Do I Do” in one word, it would be ‘classic,’ as in classic Kara, a classic second-gen MV, and a classic summer jam. Everything about “I Do I Do” is straight from Kara’s heyday at the turn of the 2010s, but it manages to avoid the pitfalls that many projects run into when they rely on nostalgia as a major driving force thanks to one key aspect: Work was clearly put in here.
“I Do I Do” is not a lazy redo of their greatest hits. Instead, it manages to straddle the line between sounding of the 2010s and being something new. Don’t get me wrong, it would absolutely fit right into a playlist of Kara’s greatest hits, but it’s also definitely its own thing. “I Do I Do” is sweet and sincere, with a sharp bite of an undercurrent that keeps Kara from becoming saccharine.
Rather than turn to the synthpop that made Kara’s name, “I Do I Do” is a slice of late-2000s pop rock. The instrumentation is built primarily on the guitar, with the runs and flourishes of that era. There’s still quite a bit of synth work, but it’s the flourishes on top, serving to lighten the track and add a bit of fun. The result is a track that feels warm and hopeful, creating a nostalgic vibe without drawing up any specific memories to pop the bubble of happy reminiscence it has otherwise created.
That is only emphasized as the instrumentation serves to highlight Kara’s greatest, and often overlooked and undervalued, skill: their harmonies. This is not just found in their unison parts, which are lovely, but the way Kara are always able to adapt to back each other. A light touch under Jiyoung’s softer voice…a little higher to emphasize Youngji’ lower register…a firm foundation for Seungyeon’s held notes: Whenever Kara are backing themselves, not only are the backing vocals done impeccably, but it always makes whoever has the solo sound their absolute best. It seems like such a small thing, but it adds such warmth to the song.
That warmth and nostalgia of “I Do I Do” is translated directly into its MV. In the same way that the song fits in perfectly with the rest of Kara’s discography, the MV feels like it was made using a second-gen K-pop MV checklist. But again, it is not lazy.
We see the members of Kara in a youthful haze. It’s almost literal, as the sun, the lens flares, and the glowing effects during the night shots keep them looking just a bit fuzzy, as if they’re not quite real, much like memories themselves. The youthfulness is only emphasized through the styling; loose, simple hairstyles, boots, layered camisoles, handkerchief tops, and long sleeves with short skirts make Kara look both young and of the era. This is not the 2000s via 2024, but the original Y2K looks, for better and for worse, which adds a touch of realism to something otherwise so dreamy.
As we watch Kara indulging the carefree attitudes of youth—having pillow fights, burying a time capsule, and exploring the beach—we keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. The MV is so clearly anchored in the past that a present feels inevitable, something to show how these halcyon days faded and adult life set in, bringing distance and strife with it. But… it doesn’t. Instead, Kara stay exactly as we see them, perfect in memory and unaffected by what came after.
This preservation is what makes “I Do I Do” really work. The lyrics are, on the surface, a love song to an old flame, both reminiscing on the good old days and gearing up for another go around. But it’s clearly a love letter to Kamilla, for both their support in the past and as Kara prepare for one more, maybe last, project. It’s a reassurance that the Kara we love will always be there, whether in new releases or a listen-through of their old ones, and that this love is valued by Kara themselves.
The problem that comes with relying heaving on nostalgia for a project is that many assume nostalgia alone is sufficient. But “I Do I Do” is enjoyable because everyone involved knows better. Yes, it’s 80% wistfulness, but that wistfulness was carefully made with effort and respect. The members of Kara are clearly having a blast, and fans get one more hit of something that just doesn’t get made anymore as it was back then. If all nostalgia projects were as good as “I Do I Do”, they probably wouldn’t have such a bad reputation.
(YouTube. Images via DSP Media.)
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