{"id":75283,"date":"2020-02-20T16:33:08","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T23:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/selective-hearing.com\/?p=75283"},"modified":"2023-09-21T18:22:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T22:22:20","slug":"scandal-kiss-from-the-darkness-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/?p=75283","title":{"rendered":"SCANDAL &#8211; Kiss from the Darkness Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-75286\" src=\"https:\/\/selective-hearing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/SCANDAL-Kiss-from-the-Darkness-CD-Cover.jpg\" alt=\"SCANDAL Kiss from the Darkness CD Cover\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Release Date: February 12, 2020<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Track Listing<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Tonight<\/li>\n<li>Masterpiece<\/li>\n<li>Fuzzy<\/li>\n<li>Saishuheiki Kimi<\/li>\n<li>Laundry Laundry<\/li>\n<li>Neon Town Escape<\/li>\n<li>Ceramic Blue<\/li>\n<li>Kinenbi<\/li>\n<li>Mabataki<\/li>\n<li>A.M.D.K.J.<\/li>\n<li>Tsuki<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Review<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>SCANDAL return with a new album titled <strong>Kiss from the Darkness<\/strong> almost two years to the release date of their previous album <strong>HONEY<\/strong>. Much like their last 2 albums this is a self-produced effort with each member contributing the to the lyrics and music in one way or another.<\/p>\n<p>A preview of what to expect came in 2019 with three single releases.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCANDAL\u300c\u30de\u30b9\u30bf\u30fc\u30d4\u30fc\u30b9\u300d \/ Masterpiece - Music Video\" width=\"1320\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t-qVp94jB1o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCANDAL\u300c\u307e\u3070\u305f\u304d\u300d \/ Mabataki - Music Video\" width=\"1320\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fCGjaaAYJT8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The first was the double a-side <em>Masterpiece\/Mabataki<\/em> released in March.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCANDAL\u300cFuzzy\u300d - Music Video\" width=\"1320\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AOL2W8HOQjA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCANDAL\u300c\u6700\u7d42\u5175\u5668\u3001\u541b\u300d \/ Saishuheiki Kimi - Music Video\" width=\"1320\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mEnXf3CiPSY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The follow ups <em>Fuzzy<\/em> and <em>Saishuheiki Kimi<\/em> were released as digital downloads in fall and winter respectively.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCANDAL\u300cA.M.D.K.J.\u300d - Music Video\" width=\"1320\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3pDpYur3Nwc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The final track before the album&#8217;s release was <em>A.M.D.K.J.<\/em>, released digitally in January of 2020.<\/p>\n<p>These tracks alone represent the type of music contained on this album where SCANDAL&#8217;s trademark hard rocking sound is infused with elements of modern pop music.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SCANDAL\u300cTonight\u300d - Music Video\" width=\"1320\" height=\"743\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/71P55qhqaLs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The opening song <em>Tonight<\/em> is a great example of SCANDAL tweaking their music to accommodate different ideas. It is probably the most \u201cPop\u201d that the band has sounded so far. Otherwise it is business as usual where SCANDAL stick with what they do best on tracks such as the aforementioned single releases along with the album cuts <em>Ceramic Blue<\/em> and <em>Kinenbi<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The most interesting tracks on <strong>Kiss from the Darkness<\/strong> are <em>Laundry Laundry<\/em> and <em>Neon Town Escape<\/em>. <em>Laundry Laundry<\/em> is best described as folksy? There is a very innocent charm to it that is only enhanced by Tomomi\u2019s vocals. <em>Neon Town Escape<\/em> on the other hand is similar in tone to <em>Tonight<\/em> where the music goes off into a funky world that SCANDAL is not normally associated with. It is hard to pin down what genre of music this fits in but it\u2019s fun to listen to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kiss from the Darkness<\/strong> takes a lot of different concepts and throws them into a blender with SCANDAL\u2019s tried and true sound. The final result is much like <strong>HONEY<\/strong> where it won\u2019t satisfy everyone.<\/p>\n<p>The main complaint is a lack of a central theme or idea to tie all the songs together. That makes the flow from track to track feel muddled when played from beginning to end straight through. For most listeners that can probably excused since they will just pick and choose the songs they want to play randomly anyway. Also the fact that the majority of the album is already previously released material with only a few new songs might rub some the wrong way.<\/p>\n<p>Those however are little nitpicks. <strong>Kiss from the Darkness<\/strong> is still a great album even with those faults.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kiss from the Darkness (Regular Edition)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdjapan.co.jp\/aff\/click.cgi\/ZRcokempdVE\/1475\/A949417\/product%2FVICL-65310\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-27391\" src=\"https:\/\/selective-hearing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/CDJapan-Logo.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"121\" height=\"33\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kiss from the Darkness (Limited Edition Type A)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdjapan.co.jp\/aff\/click.cgi\/ZRcokempdVE\/1475\/A949417\/product%2FVIZL-1706\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-27391\" src=\"https:\/\/selective-hearing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/CDJapan-Logo.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"121\" height=\"33\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kiss from the Darkness (Limited Edition Type B)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdjapan.co.jp\/aff\/click.cgi\/ZRcokempdVE\/1475\/A949417\/product%2FVIZL-1707\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-27391\" src=\"https:\/\/selective-hearing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/CDJapan-Logo.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"121\" height=\"33\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kiss from the Darkness (Apple Music)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><iframe style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; background: transparent;\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.music.apple.com\/us\/album\/kiss-from-the-darkness\/1493880627?app=music&amp;at=1010lxtp\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kiss from the Darkness is the 9th studio album from SCANDAL and their first on their private label \u201cher\u201d. It features the double a-sided single Masterpiece\/Mabataki along with the digital downloads Fuzzy, Saishuheiki Kimi and A.M.D.K.J.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273,"featured_media":79286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[56,182,34,1011],"class_list":["post-75283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-music-reviews","tag-j-pop","tag-j-rock","tag-review","tag-scandal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/273"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79287,"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75283\/revisions\/79287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/79286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.selective-hearing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}