You know that feeling you get when a song just so perfectly captures what’s going on inside of your head? Like the artist is speaking directly to you, relating in a way that only a musician can express? The Californian-bred emo rockers, Movements, have made a career capitalising on this exact feeling, yet funnily enough, they seem to fly under a lot of radars. But that could be set to change with the release of their fourth, and arguably best album to date, Happier Now.
From the opening line of album opener Pulse, “Is it worth it? Is it worth it anymore?”, the tone of the album is set. A collection of songs about longing, about personal introspection & the perpetual battles this creates, and about the ever-changing mental health battles we face every day. It’s a conversation that is becoming more and more important as time goes by, and Movements are not afraid to spark it.
Musically the album is an energetic affair, with tracks like Dissolve Me drawing you in with their fast, boppy nature, or the groove of Everything is Fine setting you up for a dance-along. And while this is probably the strongest the band have been on that front, it’s the lyrics where the true heart of Happier Now lies, as has been the case with the bands past releases.
It’s a relentlessly raw look at the struggles of depression, anxiety and the cavalcade of emotions that come with just trying to exist in todays fast-paced and glaringly uncertain world. If you’re looking for an album to make you feel happy, despite the title, this is not that album. What it does do is puts the spotlight on extremely pertinent and vastly important issues relating to mental health and life in general and really gets you thinking about your internal self.
Title track Happier Now is a dark exploration of navigating relationships, while the alt-rock stylings of Flowerbed put a more positive spin on just feeling your emotions and letting have them the space they need.
Happier Now might not be uplifting in the way of positivity & sunshine, lollipops and all those bright, shiny things but it is an extremely necessary & brutally honest look into struggles we all face day in, day out. Whether we like to admit or not. And it’s albums like this that draw the attention back onto these issues and put the spotlight where it really needs to be. Kudos to Movements for having the guts to wear their hearts so honestly on their sleeves, it has paid off in a big way here.
HAPPIER NOW – OUT NOW
https://ffm.to/movementshappiernow
