Album Review: Happier Now by Movements
Album artwork for Happier Now by Movements
Movements calling their new release “Happier Now” has some comedy value, as this band spent a full decade spilling their inner struggles and personal grievances onto tracks, believing happiness is an enigma. A feeling not feasted upon in their songwriting, and it surely doesn't carry over to this release either.
Throughout this twelve-track album, Movements sound more confident, coherent, and comfortable with writing straightforward alternative rock songs. Their sound has changed in the past with their 2023 release “RUCKUS!” actively focusing on making fun sing-along songs, but once the dust settled, they went back to the blueprint so many Movements fans adore. “Happier Now” has guitars with strength but a gentle, caring touch, massive choruses, and Patrick harmonising their emotional vulnerability from pen to paper. Crafting their past obstacles into an album is a daring task, but for Movements, people have grown accustomed to this sound from the outfit. Whilst there are only so many words in the dictionary that you can change and whip around after a decade to describe their personal emotions and vulnerabilities, Movements do it with such grace and brutality.
The production on “Happier Now” gains its appeal through its predictability. The album sounds immaculate without sounding medically sterile. The drums are bright and thud hard as expected in today's current alt rock scene, breaking through the layers of guitars. Normally, the bass can be overlooked, it makes a solid foundation for each song, bringing the songs to each pinnacle chorus to guide it along. The mix on the record is thick, never a cluttered mess. Each component of the layers can be easily identified throughout the shouts and ambience. The songs on “Happier Now” truly feel massive through their production choices, filling out the negative spaces with creative uses of noise to create moody tracks.
Movements sure know how to get to the point, rarely hiding what a song is about. Each problem is put right on the table to display, in search of help to find a fix for their inner struggles, whilst contemplating within themselves if they can ever reach the end point, it’s screamed and barked through each chorus, demanding the listeners to observe the maze in their own heads. The band has become extremely talented at writing one style of song, usually involving a verse restraint holding back from the listener, guitars gradually gaining oomph, and spiralling back with a booming chorus. The song structures from past to present work every time throughout their discography, but using the same emotional trick over and over again and grow tiresome. The band might be throwing in some different directions in sound, but they are truly going on a scenic drive just to get you to the same destination.
Pulse is an open door that immediately establishes what “happier now” is going to wrestle with: the hard struggle to change and the fear of falling back into the same place. The gentle plucks give some space to allow Patrick's voice to open with questioning himself. He truly delivers uncertainty to the question laid out, which lays a stepping stone for the rest of the band to kick in. The band sounds locked in and settles on an urgent rhythm to complement the question (is it worth it anymore?). Thick but pleasant guitars cover this polished alt-rock opener with some post-hardcore tension. The torso of the song is the rhythm of the guitars here; the bass adds some depth, and the drums keep it pushing along with a steady pace. The structure of Pulse coincides with the lyrics; the song spirals and repeats the same mistakes and pushes through the same problem with more aggression each time. When the chorus returns each time, it's delivered with further frustration but still never concludes the opening verse. It may be a bit of a cliché subject within the post-hardcore space, the song revolves around Patrick being his own obstacle. He is his own issue; he knows he is the person standing in the way, and the irritation is furthered by not knowing how to change this. The Movements sound is just enough in here; it might be a little abrasive in his narration, giving this track a little flair and stopping it from sounding like a radio-friendly Now that’s what I call emo vibe.
Happier Now is not just the title track but also the pinnacle song from the album. The song is a deep look into oneself, picking apart Patrick’s flaws, pointing a loaded gun of self-hate at someone else. The immediate change of self-pity to anger gives this track its own personality. Whilst this track seems innocently cheerful compared to more moodier tracks found throughout their entire discography, don’t let this happy track fool anyone. Underneath the cleaner sound the band brings in full, it grows slowly heavier, amping themselves up for telling the culprit what they truly think. When the drums kick in, it gives an almost pop-punk vibe; the guitars drive the rhythm whilst another sits on its own, adding higher notes and some sick texture. The track name Happier now isn’t delivered as a serious question; this isn’t a polite question asking someone if they have grown happy within themselves and improved their state of mind or life. It’s a mockery of asking someone if they are happy with how much pain they caused others through their selfish actions. The chorus is simple, it sure is effectively written; the title phrase lands immediately and stretches it through each section of the song without becoming tiresome. The barking from Patrick is a warm welcome as it adds a wider array to the sound, a bombardment of words being worked up into the rhythm, as if he is arguing faster and faster until he can't keep up with his own thoughts. The title track is the centrepiece; it balances its bitterness, melody, and obsession all at once.
Patience and silence can sometimes be the answer to someone's challenges throughout life, and Fragile Hands is a telling tale of that. Instead of rushing to a catchy hook, it uses its long runtime well as it slowly unravels and blooms its atmosphere from each texture added. The tempo feels drowsy compared to the more steady songs found earlier in the record. The notes from each string trail off into one another, with the delays blurring the foundations around Patrick's soft-spoken voice. The vocals breath throuout, making the lyrics feel hugged and intertwined to the listener. Imagery is used of holding hands like fragile glass, using this to describe the soft touch needed for this delicate relationship. Holding on too tight will cause more damage, but showing how much that one person means to him. The production has space to breathe and relax throughout this song compared to others found throughout the album. The drums are delicate, the guitars ring out, and the vocals are intimately whispered. When the distortion arrives, the song doesn't transform into some of the blurred alt-rock sounds found earlier but is used to bring a conclusion to the unbearable emotion rather than slapping in a loud section. The song slips into an eclectic haze of rung out istrumental noise, leaving the conclusion up in the air.
This new release from them does have some truly great songs, but it falls short of being a great album. The blueprint from their past works is all there, Patricks vocals are phenomenal all throughout, the guitars have that perfect balance of clean to distortive atmosphere, the rhythms are tight and the production is pristine but the main issue is the constant repetition which is the main fault of the Movements blueprint. Too many tracks take shape and come out looking identical. The majority of the tracks found on the album have a tense start to an explosive chorus, which is perfect every once in a while until the same imagery is beaten to death: broken foundations, physical collapse, damaged relationships, and feeling trapped in their own mind. Whilst none of these themes are bad, and are personal struggles the band has faced, the overuse of these themes creates an album that blends too much together. The album has some very high peaks of creative imagery and cool grooves but is ruined by predictability and playing it safe. Had they gone with a less safe approach, some of these tracks might have been more memorable, but it comes off as formulaic and copying with precision from the Movements cookbook; sometimes a song needs a little flair and pizzazz.
Movements aren't happier now despite the name of the album, and despite the issues of predictability, they sound emotionally sincere, committed, and tight on each song. This album doesn't push many boundaries within their sound, its still a good album with strong imagery that left a few bangers for their fans.
FFO: BALANCE AND COMPOSURE, MICROWAVE, MAT KEREKES
SCORE: 6/10
Happier Now is out on all streaming platforms now, released via Fearless Records.
