Album review by Lucas Bell
Emo in the modern day at times feels like a lost art. But there are a few bands that carry that flag with pride. Bands like Citizen, La Dispute, and Hot Mulligan are all bands that immediately come to mind. But to me, there is one band front and centre, keeping the scene alive, and that band has always been Movements. Feel Something in my opinion is one of the best debut emo records of all time, and Movements have kept it consistent, now on record four, with Happier Now finally being able to devastate our ears.
‘Pulse’ opens the record as a pure heartbreaker, with the common denominator of heartbreak dominating most of the songs on this record. This one in particular hit me really hard with lyrics like “Is it worth it to keep searching for a pulse?/Like pulling blood from a stone/But I’d do it over again ’til I know”. Lyrical devastation. ‘Dissolve Me’ was one of the album’s first singles, but has been the song that has sat with me the longest. A big thing Movements are brilliant at, is making really depressing songs, fun to listen to. And ‘Dissolve Me’ is a perfect example of that. The drums on this track are some of my favourite of the record as well.
The opening guitar line on ‘Everything Is Fine’ breezes you into the track and gives an almost floaty feeling into the song. The track is lyrically very reminiscent of 2017’s ‘Suffer Through’, using the metaphor of houses to project inner strength in places it might not exist anymore. The title track ‘Happier Now’ is truly Movements at their best. Impassioned vocals from Patrick Miranda, groove rhythm lines from drummer Spencer York and bassist Austin Cressey, and fun guitar lines from Ira George. An album highlight.
‘Flowerbed’ is one of the songs I found myself drumming along to on my listens almost immediately. York shows on this track why he is one of the best rock drummers going right now in my opinion. He just sits in the pocket and lets the vibes consume him, and ‘Flowerbed’ is a showcase of that. ‘Back in My Ways’ was released alongside ‘Dissolve Me’, and I never found myself coming back to this one as much as ‘Dissolve Me’ upon release. Listening within the context of the record though, an incredibly melancholic song about just trying to make it one more day. Miranda’s vocals really rip me apart on this track, and I wish I had given it more time before the album came out.
‘Spellbound’ is a small interlude track for the halfway point of the record. I think I would have liked this more at the start as the album intro, but having it after ‘Back in My Ways’ also makes a tonne of sense. It feels like a palette cleanser for what ‘Ill at Ease’ comes into being. A much instrumentally heavier and vocally screamier song than anything else yet to appear on the record. While the run of sad song has been great, this track very much woke me up when it started, and showed this record isn’t entirely sad songs.
Pairing ‘Ill at Ease’ with ‘Live by the Sword’ directly after though, what a chefs kiss of a decision. The second half of the record swings in an entirely different direction, with some of the best vocals on the record for me. ‘Everyone I’ve Ever Been’ pulls the vibes back into the sad zone for a little bit, but remains a very rock focused track. The vocals in particular on the bridge are some of my favorite of the entire record.
Seeing a song with the title of ‘Fragile Hands’ made me feel this was going to be the real downer of the album, and it kind of is, in a way I absolutely adore. ‘I see you in visions/You’re swept out to sea/I made some decisions/I think it’s best if I leave’ is almost softly spoken to us, as if Miranda is telling us directly this is how he sees the listener. There is comfort in the song, while also being deeply emotional about the fragility of human beings. ‘Seperate’ closes the album with a final big rock and roll swing, and wraps the record up in a very prophetic way, acknowledging that despite not being okay, it’s okay to find yourself, and to make yourself happy. Until, you can say with your full heart, you are Happier Now
From how I’ve spoken highly about this record, it should be no surprise the album is a close one to me. Some incredible songs and in my opinion, songs that could be career defining tracks. This is Movements at their very best, and I don’t even think they’re close to hitting their peak yet. A stellar record overall.
Score – 9/10
Album Highlights: ‘Dissolve Me’, ‘Ill at Ease’, ‘Fragile Hands’
