From Black Flag to the Beach Boys—Southern California has a rich history, and Movements is the latest addition to the region’s musical legacy. Since its founding in 2015, the band—consisting of singer Patrick Miranda, guitarist/bassist Austin Cressey, guitarist Ira George, and drummer Spencer York—has evolved from a raw post-hardcore band into true headliners, racking up over 775 million streams in total and opening for some of their biggest influences, such as Tigers Jaw and Citizen, on tour. For their fourth album, “Happier Now,” released on Fearless Records, the band has once again teamed up with Grammy-winning producer Will Yip (Turnstile, Title Fight, Circa Survive) to create an album that is as multifaceted as it is emotional, taking Movements’ signature sound to a new level and further cementing the band’s status as a leading force in the scene.
While the band previously had to put together their albums under time pressure between tours, “Happier Now” was written and recorded over the course of the past year in three separate, one-month sessions with Grammy-nominated producer Yip at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania—the band had never spent that much time in a studio before. “I think at first we weren’t really sure what the album was supposed to be,” Miranda admits. “We all had a rough idea: We wanted to bring in the early elements of our sound and blend them with the newer material like [the 2023 release] ‘RUCKUS!’ and fuse both sounds together.”
Two of the songs that emerged from that first session were the instantly catchy anthem “Dissolve Me” and the atmospheric meditation “Back In My Ways,” which together served as sonic guiding stars to lead the band through the recording process… with a little extra help from Yip, of course
“We’ve always said that Will is kind of like the fifth member of this band, and he’s always really helped us put our sound together,” says Miranda about the producer, who has worked on nearly all of Movements’ albums. “He has such a clear vision of our sound that he brings ideas to the table that we really appreciate.” From the syncopated beauty of the album opener “Pulse” to the climactic and unexpected ending of the closing track “Separate,” “Happier Now” takes the listener on a musical journey that gains new nuances with every listen. This is especially true of the title track, which is brimming with unexpected time signatures and sonic textures that slowly reveal themselves as the song blends 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 a sea of subtext hidden behind this seemingly innocent phrase.
“The album title is meant to be a bit ironic, because if you actually read through the lyrics, it’s a pretty dark album, and I think that’s exactly what a lot of people expect from Movements,” explains Miranda. Even though fans have been able to follow the inspiring journey of his mental health over the course of the band’s last three albums, that doesn’t mean these issues are a thing of the past for Miranda. “Happier Now is an extremely personal album, and when I started writing the lyrics for these songs, I realized that maybe I wasn’t doing as well as I thought I was,” he admits. “Objectively speaking, I’m doing better than I used to, but when you struggle with depression, it never completely goes away.” This feeling comes across very powerfully in “Ill At Ease”—a song that, in its most melodic moments, is reminiscent of early Jimmy Eat World.
In many ways, “Happier Now” brings Movements full circle: The band is performing on the Warped Tour again this summer and is slowly becoming veterans of the very scene that inspired them in their youth. Miranda also attributes the band’s success to the bond the members share after spending over a decade together in the studio and on tour.
“We’ve reached a point where it feels less like we’re in a band together and more like we’re a family,” Miranda explains. “It’s like being married to three other people, so we really had to work on those relationships—but I think we’ve reached a point where we feel more connected than ever before.” This sense of connection is palpable in every note of “Happier Now,” an album that most fully embodies the sound of Movements and ultimately defies categorization. Never has struggle sounded so beautiful.