Video: The New Division, ‘Lost Life’

Kevin Bronson on January 27th, 2020

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For almost a decade, Riverside native John Kunkel — aka the New Division — has been mining the ’80s for gold, making music that orbits heavenly bodies like Depeche Mode, New Order and Tears for Fears.

“Hidden Memories,” the fourth New Division album and first full-length in five years, arrived digitally today, finding Kunkel and co-producer F.J. DeSanto gently updating the project’s signature synth-pop. The relentless basslines and crisp drums, plus the spacey atmospherics, are still there, though some of the sounds might be carbon-dated to ’90s house and techno.

“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 said in the album announcement. “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.’”

Start with “Fascination” and “Modus” and don’t overlook “Enough Is Enough.”

||| Watch: The videos for “Lost Life” and “Modus”