Despite Kang Ji-young and Nicole’s decision to leave the girl group to pursue solo careers, Kara has returned with a new member and a new EP, “Day & Night.”

Although the group’s future seemed quite bleak at the beginning of the year after the announcement that a second member had decided to leave, the group officially dropped its first EP as a foursome Monday. “Day & Night” is Kara’s sixth EP and its first release in eight months.

The new album features six tracks including the lead single “Mamma Mia.” The upbeat disco-pop tune was composed by the K-pop producing duo Duble Sidekick, who wrote and produced five of the album’s tracks. The music video for “Mamma Mia” was also released on Monday. 

Although the lead single has managed to creep its way onto the main online charts’ top 10 rankings, it is being greatly overshadowed by Busker Busker vocalist Jang Beom-june’s first solo album, which as of Tuesday was dominating all the major online real-time charts.

Kara’s three remaining original members Park Gyu-ri, Hang Seung-yeon and Koo Ha-ra were recently joined by Heo Young-ji, who landed the spot after winning the audition program “KARA Project,” which aired earlier this summer. Heo beat out six other DSP agency trainees to become a part of the new Kara, which after debuting in 2007 had not only become an iconic K-pop group in Korea, but also one of the most successful K-pop girl groups in Japan, currently signed under Universal Music Japan.

Despite parting ways with their former teammates, the current members of Kara stated previously at their showcase on Monday that they are confident in the future of the group. The young starlet Heo claimed that she has worked hard and done everything in her power to prove her dedication to her new group.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)