Movements – Happier Now Review

It’s October 2018, and I’m in the crowd for Knucke Puck in Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms. I’m there primarily to see Tiny Moving Parts, but before that a band comes on and plays a song I instantly recognise; it’s the track Full Circle, and I realise the band I’m watching is Movements. That gig was fantastic, notably because vocalist Patrick Miranda is kicking off at security for, frankly, being shit at caring for the crowd.

This interaction showed me that Miranda is a decent, caring person who isn’t afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve, even if it means getting into an altercation with security. Happier Now, their new album, further displays his raw, emotional side, following on from Feel Something to deliver heartfelt gut punches, song after song.

This interaction and overall live show had me hooked on this band’s first album, Feel Something. Full Circle, Colourblind, and Third Degree are a few of my favourites from this band. Later albums, unfortunately, fell a little under the radar for me, in part because they saw the band move into a slightly softer emo territory, leaving behind their more post-hardcore-leaning aggression.

These albums aren’t bad, by any stretch. Preparing for their new album, Happier Now, I listened through both No Good Left to Give and RUCKUS!, and they’re decent emo albums, but I felt they didn’t quite have the edge that their debut had. Then came Happier Now, and I’m stoked to say that this album bridges the gap between their raw post-hardcore sound and a cleaner, softer emo sound.

Happier Now is also catchy as fuck. The title track had me singing, “Are you happier now? / With that blood in your mouth?” again and again, which, given the overall dark theme of the song, questions whether the person being addressed is happier now shouldn’t be such an earworm, yet here we are. Songs like these remind me so much of their debut, and to answer the question, yes, yes, I am happier now.

Instrumentally, the album – as I mentioned before – brings together styles from their previous records, with catchy alt-rock bangers like Dissolve Me and Ill At Ease, grittier post-hardcore elements with Pulse and Happier Now, and softer emo moments with Back in my Ways. It feels like a love letter to fans from across their discography, and I really dig that.

Miranda has a way with words, and this album is a prime example of that. Across the whole 44 minutes, expect an earnest, raw, and emotional barrage of lyricism. There aren’t just songs touching on past relationships and heartbreak; Live By The Sword has Movements touch on the current political landscape, asking those who spew lies to “Live by the sword, die the same”. It’s not subtle that this is aiming at the more right-leaning politics we’re seeing in the world right now.