It’s crazy to think that it has been almost five years since The New Division released an album. While EPs have always been a go-to for the Los Angeles-based electronic act (and among most artists these days within the ever-changing industry) albums, however, are still appreciated among listeners – especially when they are chock full of goodies like this one!
Hidden Memories is TND’s first album since 2015’s Gemini and if you’ve been following the band since their inception, you’ll be falling head over heels for this one in no time. With remnants of their early days (The Rookie EP and debut LP, Shadows) Hidden Memories continues to prove that all things eventually come full circle and that albums still have the power to captivate an invested audience.
“I wanted ‘Hidden Memories to be a blend of what I felt were the best parts of my early years as The New Division, a return to form of sorts,” Kunkel says. “I picked up where I left off, back when I was listening to a lot of dance records ranging from progressive, trance, early new wave, and synthpop. The blend of all those sounds is what I envisioned for ‘Hidden Memories.'”
We asked frontman, John Kunkel, to decode each track off of Hidden Memories for us in this exclusive track-by-track commentary. Enjoy and don’t forget to pick up the album here!
Love vinyl? The New Division teamed up with Qrates to crowdfund the release of Hidden Memories on vinyl! Find out more here!
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“Clear”
This song went through so many iterations, I’m surprised it was ever completed! As with most of my songs, it started out with an intro loop which later influenced the entire vibe of the tune. At the time of writing this, I remember really wanting to re-create something in the vein of Underworld’s ‘Cowgirl’.
“Fascination”
I had such a hard time coming up with a chorus vocal melody for ‘Fascination’. I ended up asking my friend James from Missing Words (also Digital Shades) to help me write it. In a single sitting we knocked out what would’ve taken me another 3 months to figure out on my own.
“Lost Life”
Easily the hardest song to finish on this entire record. Truth be told I’m still not 100% happy with it but alas, you gotta end it at some point and let the fans decide if they like it or not.
“Modus”
I think this was the most fun to work on. I fell in love with the chord progression right away and the lyrics, melodies came so natural. It’s rare when that happens, but when it does its the best feeling in the world.
“Broken”
This is an interesting one. Originally James (mentioned above) wrote the music to this, sent it to me, and I said, “I need this for my next album.” He later told me he wrote it after trying to recreate his own interpretation of “Shallow Play.” Since it didn’t fit Missing Words, he graciously gave me the rough demo of the song and I ended up refining it to my liking, added vocals, and the rest is history.
“The Line”
Probably my personal favorite off the entire record. I know some fans don’t really get this sound but to me, its what defines The New Division both sonically and melodically. At least in my mind! Jasmine Knight was kind enough to do some backing vocals with me, which I think took the song to another level.
“Needs Are Denied”
I guess if I had an ‘experimental’ song on this record, it’d be this track. Not really ‘experimental’ in the ambient sense but rather I really tried to get out of my comfort zone with this song. Starting the track slow and speeding it up during the intro was a bit challenging. I also had the help of Peter Riley (The Dossier, Saintface) who sang backup vocals on the choruses.
“Over”
I think this was the last song I wrote for the record. I can’t say too much about it other than I had a lot of fun going into the studio and recording live drums for it.
“Enough Is Enough”
One of those songs with more tracks than it should have, but I love it the way it is. There’s not much to say about it, I loved working on this track and as always, F.J. DeSanto (Trade Secrets) did an amazing job at helping me piece the arrangement together, often the hardest part of finalizing a piece.
“Ride”
If I had to pick a second favorite song off the record, it’d be this one for sure. “Ride” is the perfect ending for Hidden Memories, and I’m glad I took F.J.’s advice and didn’t put it at the front of the record.
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