Live at Electric Brixton in London: Movements

From Black Flag to the Beach Boys, Southern California has a rich history and Movements are the latest addition to the region’s musical legacy. Since forming in 2015, the group—vocalist Patrick Miranda, guitarist/bassist Austin Cressey, guitarist Ira George and drummer Spencer York—have transformed from a scrappy post-hardcore act to bonafide headliners who have over 775 million lifetime streams and have taken some of their biggest inspirations such as Tigers Jaw and Citizen out on the road as opening acts. For their fourth full-length for Fearless Records, Happier Now, the band reunited with Grammy award-winning producer Will Yip (Turnstile, Title Fight, Circa Survive) to create an album that’s as expansive as it is emotional and takes Movements’ signature sound to a heightened level that further establishes the band as scene statesmen.

While the band previously had to put their albums together on tight timelines in between tours, Happier Now was written and recorded over three separate month-long sessions over the past year with Grammy-nominated producer Yip at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, which was the most time the band ever had in the studio environment. “I think at first we weren’t really sure what the record was going to be,” Miranda admits. “We all had a general idea: We wanted it to bring in the early elements of our sound and blend it with the newer material like [2023’s] RUCKUS! and mesh both of those sounds.” Two of the songs that came from that initial session were the instantly infectious anthem “Dissolve Me” and moody meditation “Back In My Ways,” which collectively acted as sonic north stars to guide the band through the recording process… with some added help from Yip, of course

“We’ve always said that Will is like the fifth member of this band and he’s always really helped tie our sound together,” Miranda says of the producer who has worked on nearly all of Movements’ recorded output. “He has such a strong vision when it comes to our sound that he’s able to come up with ideas that we really appreciate.” From the syncopated beauty of the album opener “Pulse” to the climatic and unexpected ending of the closer “Seperate,” Happier Now takes the listener on a musical journey that grows more nuanced with each subsequent listen. This fact is especially true of the title track, which is teeming with unexpected time signatures and sonic textures that slowly reveal themselves as the song merges elements of pop and post-hardcore in a way that would sound just as powerful in a sweaty basement as it would in a sold-out amphitheater. However, when Miranda asks, “Are you happier now with your happier sounds?” there’s an ocean of subtext hiding beneath this seemingly innocent phrase.

“The album title is a little tongue-and-cheek because if you actually read the lyrics, it’s a pretty dark record and I think that’s what a lot of people want from Movements,” Miranda explains. While fans witnessed the inspiring arc of his mental health journey through the course of the band’s previous three albums, that doesn’t mean that these issues are behind Miranda. “Happier Now is an extremely personal record and when I started to write the lyrics for these songs, I realized maybe I wasn’t doing as well as I thought I was doing,” he admits. “I’m in an objectively better place than I used to be, but when you struggle with depression, that never fully goes away.” This sentiment is expressed with keen articulation on “Ill At Ease,” a song that recalls early Jimmy Eat World during its most melodic moments.

In many ways, Happier Now is a full circle moment for Movements, who are once again performing on the Warped Tour this summer and slowly becoming veterans of the community that inspired them growing up. Miranda also credits the band’s success to the connection that the members feel having spent over a decade in the studio and on the road together. “We’re at a point where it feels less like being in a band together and more like a family,” Miranda explains. “It’s like being in a marriage with three other people, so we’ve had to really work on those relationships—but I think we’re at a point where we feel more connected than we ever have before.” That sense of connection is palpable in every note of Happier Now, an album that is the most fully realized version of Movements’ sound and one that ultimately defies categorization. The struggle never sounded so sweet.