The New Division – Hidden Memories (Album – Progress Productions)
Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, indie-pop.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: The New Division is the sonic brainchild of John Glenn Kunkel. The band can already look back on a respectable discography, the last productions having been released by Progress Productions. The Swedish label released the CD edit featuring ten songs plus six bonus cuts.
Content: The New Division moves on composing a very personal pop style, which can be the best described as merging different influences. The global work sounds pretty indie-pop like and reminds me now and then to IAMX. Some tracks are a bit more 80s driven -like on their previous album “Gemini” while others have been driven by groovy sequences.
+ + + : “Hidden Memories” is a well-crafted work revealing a diverse tracklist. I prefer the ‘retro’ style of the album, which you can hear on “Broken”, but the last song from the regular album (cf. “Ride”) for its global elaboration. The bonus cuts are still worthy of examination and I even dare to say that is where you’ll discover the best songs on the album. “Worth It” is a fully appropriated title for one of the most danceable and achieved cuts of this album. I also have to say a word about the singing skills of John Glenn Kunkel who’s a real talented and captivated singer.
– – – : I’m less convinced by the groovy cuts featured at this work. They inject something extra danceable, but this is not the best side of the band.
Conclusion: The New Division deals with a very own pop approach, which clearly takes distance with most of the typical electro/dance-pop bands. This is an interesting experience however I prefer the previous album.
Best songs: “Worth It”, “Enough Is Enough”, “Ride”, “Glass Jaw”, “Over”.
Rate: (7½).
Artist: www.newdivisionmusic.com /
www.facebook.com/thenewdivision
Label: www.progress–productions.com / www.facebook.com/progresspro
About The New Division
The New Division began in 2005 as a college dorm-room project for songwriter John Kunkel, who had moved from Uruguay to Southern California and started experimenting with synthesizers after hearing Joy Division, New Order and Depeche Mode. By the end of 2007 the project had grown into a four-piece with Michael Janz, Brock Woolsey and Mark Michalski. The band’s discography includes the albums “Gemini” (2015) and “Together We Shine” (2014) before “Hidden Memories” (2020), followed by “System Shock” (2021) and further singles and EPs into the mid-2020s, released through Progress Productions.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
