Movements frontman Patrick Miranda (left) opened up about the new record. (Image: ADAM ALONZO • PROVIDED)
Movements are one of the few contemporary bands that really resonate with a lot of people. I don’t mean they have a big fandom (which they also do) but rather that their lyrics’ emotional weight truly connect with their audience.
At the root of it all is Patrick Miranda, frontman of Movements and a famously open book when it comes to his mental health. He’s spent most of his music career talking about his lowest moments, and how they inspired some of the deepest and most heart-wrenching songs one has ever heard. But their previous album, ‘Ruckus!’, changed things up.
Movements – ‘Happier Now’ album cover. (Image: PH)
When I last spoke to Miranda, he had spent a lot of time working on himself, aiming to improve his mental state, and openly mused on how that would build on the band’s legacy. “We’re trying to expand and forget any sort of guidelines or genre or sounds that is out there,” he said at the time.
Now, speaking exclusively to the Daily Express once again, Miranda noted that, after ‘Ruckus!’, Movements are being listened to by more people than ever (just over 1 million people per month on Spotify, if that’s something you’re into) and they’re playing bigger shows than ever. But he has heard the criticisms, as well.
“I understand that maybe some people didn’t connect with ‘Ruckus!’,” he said. “There was this, you know, quite apparent aversion to a lot of that that album, which is fine, you know. That’s totally fine.”
“We loved the album. We loved ‘Ruckus!’. I still love it,” he said. “But we also were understanding of the fact that there were maybe some people out there who needed a little bit more of what they ‘expect’.” He hastened to add that people should not have any kind of predetermined expectations on what Movements should release. With that said, he conceded that they “don’t want to completely deny the fact that [their earlier music] is a huge part of their career”.
With that in mind, the band’s forthcoming record, ‘Happier Now’, has a lot to deal with when it arrives this week. But it somehow came out better than Miranda, himself, ever expected.
The album feels like a step back towards Movements’ first two records, ‘Feel Something’ and ‘No Good Left To Give’. That isn’t to say they’re going backwards, though – the band are very clearly carving their own path.
Miranda spoke slowly and thoughtfully about his new work with smile, while admitting: “Truthfully, I had a a rough couple of years from the time that ‘Ruckus!’ came out until now.”
Movements will be releasing their new album this year. (Image: ADAM ALONZO • PROVIDED)
Miranda continued: “And when we were writing the album, there’s just a lot of things that I was dealing with on a personal level and struggling with. And–I think more so than I even realised–I started to notice, during the writing process, that every song was a sad song. And that wasn’t necessarily the goal.
“I knew that I wanted to tap into some of those darker emotional places and kind of revisit that side of my writing. But I didn’t expect it to just be every song was that.
“You know, in my mind, I was like, ‘Oh, it’ll be a good mix of everything, we’ll still have the more happier, upbeat songs and whatever, blah blah blah’. And then the first song that we wrote for the album was ‘Dissolve Me’, which is objectively a very upbeat banger – and when I went in to write it, the only things I could think of were pretty sad.
“And I was like, okay, well, whatever. I’ll just run with that and see what happens. The song turned out good. It was great.”
Before long, Miranda had penned a string of songs that – while sonically thrilling – were tonally uneasy. “It was sort of eye-opening for me,” he recalled. “Because I sort of realised, maybe I’m dealing with a lot more than I have even recognised, you know?”
As a result, Miranda laughed “the album ended up being really sad”. He went on: “I think people expect that Movements is no longer this band that they use to go to for the really sad, deeply introspective stuff. I think we’ve kind of shown from ‘Ruckus!’ that we’re not just that band.”
Miranda explored: “And I think a lot of people didn’t like that about ‘Ruckus!’ is that it wasn’t as much of that. And so when they hear the album name ‘Happier Now’. I’m sure they’re going to be expecting one thing, and then get something entirely different. I kind of like that it’s tongue-in-cheek in that way.”
Movements have tour plans set up for North America throughout the rest of the year, but British fans are no doubt yearning for information on when they will be returning to the UK, as well.
Unfortunately, Miranda couldn’t give any concrete details on when or how that might happen. He mused that a Movements tour in “early 2027” was feasible, but would not make any promises.
Until then, ‘Happier Now’ is just around the corner.
Movements – Happier Now is out September 4, 2026.
