Internationally recognized Japanese rock band, Scandal, has just released their 20th single titled "Image" on November 19th, just in time to be included for their upcoming album Hello World to be released in two weeks.

 The melody and the lyrics for the song was composed by their lead guitarist Mami Sazaki around the time they finished their Yokohama Live earlier this year in June. The song was created based on the surge of feelings the band had at the time around the theme of "Imagining a brighter future than it is now." This is certainly reflected in the up beat and fast paced melody of the song, which gives the impression of racing towards the future. The song also shows off the band's ability for the four girls to be in harmony with each other in a unified song, whereas the style of many of their past songs were composed in a way that there are very individual solo parts in the song. The style of the song is what you still come to expect from Scandal in their rock themes, similar to their singles like "Harukaze".

In contrast to their B-side song included with the single, it is much slower paced and conveys a more laid back and happy mood. According to bassist Tomomi, this was composed in 5 minutes, which is pretty impressive. The song incorporates many non-traditional sounds and instruments that you come to expect from a rock band. And while it was not a song you come to expect from Scandal, the theme reminds me greatly of Tomomi's goofy and happy personality due to its melody.

While both are great songs to listen to, the more polished A-Side far outshines B-side song in this single due to the thoughts that have gone in to creating the single. The B-side feels like it was more a fun playful song that the band came up with on the whim and not a song I can picture them performing seriously in a concert. The A-side song on the other hand is a solid single that I can only imagine will be one of the key songs that most fans will be looking forward to during next year's Hello World Tour.

You can listen to the full song as well as check out the music video below.

The single is now available on Amazon and on iTunes for purchase.