Movements
10th March 2027

From Black Flag to the Beach Boys, Southern California has a rich history and Movements are the latest addition to the region’s musical legacy. Since forming in in 2015, the group—vocalist Patrick Miranda, guitarist/bassist Austin Cressey, guitarist Ira George and drummer Spencer York—have transformed from a scrappy post-hardcore act to bonafide headliners who have over 775 million lifetime streams and have taken some of their biggest inspirations such as Tigers Jaw and Citizen out on the road as opening acts. For their fourth full-length for Fearless Records, Happier Now, the band reunited with Grammy award-winning producer Will Yip (Turnstile, Title Fight, Circa Survive) to create an album that’s as expansive as it is emotional and takes Movements’ signature sound to a heightened level that further establishes the band as scene statesmen.

While the band previously had to put their albums together on tight timelines in between tours, Happier Now was written and recorded over three separate month-long sessions over the past year with Grammy-nominated producer Yip at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, which was the most time the band ever had in the studio environment. “I think at first we weren’t really sure what the record was going to be,” Miranda admits. “We all had a general idea: We wanted it to bring in the early elements of our sound and blend it with the newer material like [2023’s] RUCKUS! and mesh both of those sounds.” Two of the songs that came from that initial session were the instantly infectious anthem “Dissolve Me” and moody meditation “Back In My Ways,” which collectively acted as sonic north stars to guide the band through the recording process… with some added help from Yip, of course

“We’ve always said that Will is like the fifth member of this band and he’s always really helped tie our sound together,” Miranda says of the producer who has worked on nearly all of Movements’ recorded output. “He has such a strong vision when it comes to our sound that he’s able to come up with ideas that we really appreciate.” From the syncopated beauty of the album opener “Pulse” to the climatic and unexpected ending of the closer “Seperate,” Happier Now takes the listener on a musical journey that grows more nuanced with each subsequent listen. This fact is especially true of the title track, which is teeming with unexpected time signatures and sonic textures that slowly reveal themselves as the song merges 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 an ocean of subtext hiding beneath this seemingly innocent phrase.