Movements bring the different sides of their sound together on Happier Now, their fourth full-length and another collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Will Yip (Turnstile, Title Fight, Circa Survive). Drawing from the emotional weight of their earlier records and the broader reach of 2023’s RUCKUS!, the album pushes their post-hardcore foundation through angular guitars, layered melodies and some of vocalist Patrick Miranda’s most introspective writing.

Formed in Southern California in 2015, Movements quickly established themselves as one of the standout bands of a new generation of post-hardcore. Miranda, guitarist Ira George, bassist Austin Cressey and drummer Spencer York first made their mark with the Outgrown Things EP before breaking through with their 2017 debut album, Feel Something. Its mix of post-hardcore intensity, emo vulnerability and atmospheric rock helped build a devoted following, while No Good Left to Give and RUCKUS! showed a band increasingly willing to stretch beyond the boundaries of the scene that produced them.

The direction began with “Dissolve Me,” the first song written for the record and one that Miranda says immediately established where the band could go next. Tense, discordant riffs collide with shimmering vocal harmonies and an infectious chorus, while the lyrics turn inward to examine Miranda’s struggles with everyday social interactions and the anxiety that can build around them.

“Back In My Ways” pulls Movements toward the moodier side of their past. Built as a slow burn, the song steadily gathers tension before erupting in its final stretch with a rush of guitars and emotionally charged vocals. Miranda initially resisted the track, wary of returning to the sadder territory associated with the band’s earlier material, but it eventually became one of his favorites on the album.

Those two songs became guideposts for Happier Now, helping Movements find the balance they were looking for between where they started and where RUCKUS! had taken them. Yip once again gives the band plenty of room to move between quiet tension, melodic hooks and explosive release without sacrificing the urgency at the center of their music.