Our Next Movement – 119 (2016)

Talk about variety! On their new record 119, Valencia’s Our Next Movement are jumping from style to style in an unforeseeable manner. Starting off with the first two tracks ‘Michael’s Secret Stuff’ and ‘Sr. Shemyrs’ you would expect the Spanish quintet to dwell in the musical territory of instrumental post-hardcore, reminiscent of the likes of At The Drive-In, just sans the vocals of Cedric Bixler. The third track suddenly sheds the heavy distortion, instead featuring twinkly tapping licks and melodic ooh-aah-choirs.

‘Ihan Kaunis’ begins with even dreamier soundscapes, adding piano and cello sections to the mix, before escalating into violent screams of the band’s members. The loud crescendo is countered by a calm interlude consisting only of strings and classical guitar picking, after which Our Next Movement deliver three more ever so diverse songs that I won’t continue to describe at this point as to not spoil you the twists and turns of this record. 119 is intricate without making it overly complex and is picking up on various distinct qualities of the genre and mixing them up together, which in turn makes for a rich listening experience.