REVIEW: Movements - Happier Now
- Laura Davies
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
MOVEMENTS have always been a band of contrasting ideas. Their music can sound magnificently giant while dealing with emotions that make the world feel incredibly small. For their fourth album, Happier Now, the Californian post hardcore quartet lean further into that emotion, leaning more into the confidence and melancholy of 2023’s RUCKUS!.
Opening with Pulse, the scene is set for what is to come for the rest of the album. With angular riffs and layered harmonies that feel reminiscent and fresh at the same time, you feel the familiarity of a MOVEMENTS record whilst also feeling like this is a fresh take too. Jumping straight into lead single Dissolve Me as the second track, the angsty guitar riffs give audiences a catchy stand out track. Vocalist Patrick Miranda sings ‘Should I go headfirst into the concrete?’ over a background of guitars, feeling like an anthem for the lost and socially awkward.
The next few songs reveal something messy, emotionally charged, and frank. Everything Is Fine has the lyrics ‘I’m so fucking anxious I could die - what a perfect illustration of my life’. Leaning into honesty and rawness that has previously been seen from bands such as REAL FRIENDS and THE DANGEROUS SUMMER. The layers that appear in the title song Happier Now show listeners that happiness isn't necessarily a destination to reach, and getting older or more successful doesn't magically quiet the thoughts that have followed you there.
The maturity that comes across in this album compared to previous doesn’t take away from the fact that at the heart of this album is a post hardcore record that screams MOVEMENTS from the opening bars to the closing ones. By the time the second single Back In My Ways hits, we have met the middle of the record. The song seems on the surface to be a slow burner that has a gradual escalation to a crescendo of emotionally charged vocals and screams, feeling like a cathartic release that is going to become an anthem for the sad seasons.
Live By The Sword feels like a turn in the album. The aggression fuelled lyrics with layered vocals and heavy riffs that feel full of resentment and anger. The bassline pushes this agenda alongside the lyrics that make this a standout track on the record, almost leaning into punk as opposed to post hardcore. Similarly, Everyone I’ve Ever Been feels like a song laced with determination and despair at the same time.
Lyrically, this album feels like a beautiful juxtaposition. With the idea that life is happier now, blended with the uncomfortable idea that feelings can return even when they seem to be fine on the outside. The atmospheric guitars and emotional vulnerability remain throughout this record, but they're now accompanied by a stronger understanding of determination and restraint. The guitars retain the hazy, emotionally charged quality that has defined MOVEMENTS as a band, but the hooks increasingly feel designed for something much bigger.
Moving towards the closing songs of Fragile Hands and Separate, it truly feels like this is an album cemented in the band's history as something poetic and honest. Fragile Hands feels like a song of hope and despair, like a last ditch attempt to reach someone that will always be just outside of a grasp, ending with a haunting play of chords. Separate feels like the defeated yet determined ending that this album needs as Miranda sings ‘I gave all of me… nothing left to see’ in an angst fuelled song that feels like the perfect closing song for this album.
The conflict that runs through this album is ultimately what makes Happier Now as compelling as what it is. MOVEMENTS aren't attempting to recreate past records, nor create a brand new sound. Instead, this feels like an attempt to pull all the best parts of previous records into something altogether spectacular. They no longer sound like a band searching for an identity, they’ve worked out where their place is in the music-sphere and it’s solidly in the sweet spot of nostalgia and reminding us it’s okay not to be okay.
Score: 8/10
Happier Now will be released on 4th September via Fearless Records.
Words: Laura Davies
Photos: Adam Alonzo
Comments