Two diabetic promotions (via Orange Caramel) and one excruciating postponement later, and After School's leader, Kahi, has clicked her heels and made her highly anticipated return to the one place she will forever call home:  the beloved platform of K-pop. --- Last year, Pledis  Entertainment decided to divide their leading girl group, After School (Bekah, Jooyeon, Jung Ah, Kahi, Lizzy, Nana, Raina, Uee, and Yi Young), into sub-units  - sans Uee, of course, who's almost always preoccupied with K-dramas - and allowed one member to go solo. During the Summer of 2010, when the boy bands of K-pop were just starting to crawl back into the forefront, Orange Caramel debuted.  The sub-unit was/is made up of Lizzy, Nana, and, surprisingly, Raina, and the three skipped into the scene with a rather eyebrow-raising approach to cute and frilly pop music.  The trio later went on to release a second single in November. --- As for the solo member, it wasn't until this year that Pledis finally announced that Kahi would be making her solo debut. Of all the members in After School, Kahi is arguably the most admired.  She is the one member who has earned a high level of respect in her own right, mainly because classy is always in.  Her sexy meter isn't necessarily bursting at the seams, but at the same time, she definitely knows how to move. Kahi (30) is one of the handful of idols who finds herself on the perimeter of the K-pop age pool.  In this day and age, most Korean idols are in their teens - sometimes younger - and early twenties, but a lucky few of the older bunch have remained relevant by affirming a solid position in pop groups full of younger members, i.e. Kahi in After School.  It has always worked that way, especially in the mainstream media, because a youthful face is a face that sells. That means that if Kahi is associating herself with a younger crowd - when she's well out of her 20s - she has the daunting task of continuing to churn out music for a younger demographic, while essentially trying to grow up in the process.  For Kahi though, that task might actually be less of a burden now, because she has already established a certain sense of maturity within After School, and it doesn't hurt that she's going solo with this promotion;  the less kids tagging along, the better. --- Tracklist: 01 Come Back You Bad Person 02 One Love 03 Gift 04 Roller Coaster Much like Kahi's disposition, a lot of this mini album isn't exactly edgy or chaotic, but more along the lines of subtly fierce.  To put a song to that description, think After School's "Because Of You", just not as epic. "Come Back You Bad Person", the lead single and one of two songs that Kahi wrote, is "Because Of You" all over again; the message may differ, but this song features those exact same airy vocals and that whisper-rap-thing that was written all over After School's smash hit of 2009.  I do have to say that the style worked/works well for the girl group, and it fits Kahi like a glove, so it's no surprise to hear her go down that route again with this single. Of course, there are distinctions between the two songs, like the crunching effects of the chorus, although, and it pains me to say it, but I can't consider the 'chorus' in "Come Back You Bad Person" a proper chorus.  Actually, the entire structure of this song, while melodically pretty at some points, feels like Kahi was trying too hard to mix water with oil.  That or she was aiming for something a little more experimental and less of a commercial single, which is not a bad thing, because she actually has something gorgeous going with the calmer moments of the song - "baby, don't leave me/baby, don't leave me!"; it would work a little better with a more interesting arrangement and a far more creative chorus.  Throw in a killer hook and she's got a perfect hit. Listening to it though, there are obvious moments when nothing is going on.  This usually only happens when it's a lead single and there's most likely one or two dance breaks involved.  Check and check. Kahi, for the newbies out there, is a multi-faceted, pop maven.  She has developed into a performer more so than a singer, and from watching her on stage, I can tell there's a special drive in After School's leading lady that propels her to deliver impressive live performances,  one right after the other.  Her merits are largely based on her lengthy experience in the entertainment business; she was BoA's back up dancer at one point in her career.  So when this mini album progresses from the pseudo-dance single to something like the tame and ethereal mid tempo track, "One Love", I can't help but wonder when THAT song - the one that will blow me backward out of my chair, the one we all know Kahi could easily pull off - will circulate and set off a line of explosions. Certainly Kahi knew the masses were expecting big tracks, so I can not deny the fact that she has at least injected heavy beats and extra grunge into two of her songs, one of which is by all means the top song off of the album: "Roller Coaster."  It's leaps and bounds crisper and far more engaging than the lead single. "Roller Coaster" reminds me of Kylie Minogue's strand of pop, which is by far one of the best. It's obvious that Kahi is obsessed with a thick, ambient production.  It's really well done throughout this EP, but it works the best in "Roller Coaster."  The transitions are chilling and with the added bonus of form, this song's impact is far greater (and exponentially stronger) than it is in "Come Back You Bad Person." Explosives (or lack thereof) aside, there's still something to this mini album that is somewhat refreshing to hear in a K-pop release: sophistication.  It goes back to the fact that Kahi is not a parading teen anymore.  Today, girl groups in K-pop slip in and out of dark and 'grown up' concepts to prove who-knows what point, but the authenticity is crystal clear when an artist like Kahi releases mature-sounding music like she has this week  (One Love, Gift). --- While this album comes across as slightly underwhelming, it's best to take this as Kahi's proclamation of adulthood.  Kahi has always been graceful and elegant by nature, and it's a good thing to still hear that in this EP.  She is all grown up, and even if there are more ho-hum moments than gems to take you over, there's no denying the fact that it is still a high-quality mini album, both production-wise and performance-wise. Obviously, Kahi will have to go back to releasing younger pop music with After School, and I'm partially convinced she left out the cartwheels for that very reason, but I'm reserving hope that she delivers those fireworks I'm missing when they regroup. Overall Rating: 4.0/5 — What are your thoughts on the album? — Suggestions for a future review?  Hit the author up on Twitter (@rothsresidence) or via e-mail (arnold.arteaga@allkpop.com)! — Note: This article does not reflect the opinions of allkpop, only of the author.