It turns out you don’t actually have to stick to heavy distortion and standard verse-chorus quiet-loud tropes to make a genuinely massive rock record. On their second album, ‘Moments in Motion’, South Wales four-piece The Now make a pretty sensational case for ditching the old playbook entirely and bringing the dance floor into the garage instead.
The leap they’ve made since 2024s ‘Too Hot To Handle’ is staggering. Where their debut was a classic, raw guitar-driven affair, this new 12-track collection feels like a band throwing open the studio doors, breathing in fresh air, and realizing they can make music that genuinely makes people move. You can hear everything from Prince and Michael Jackson to ABBA bubbling beneath the surface.
Take a track like ‘Drug’, which hits with the kind of erratic, intoxicating energy that perfectly mirrors the toxic relationship it’s about. Or ‘Infection’, a total highlight that wrestles with how getting older slowly impacts your individuality, wrapped up in a beat so slick you almost forget how heavy the lyricism is.
Frontman Shane Callaghan and the boys (Callum Bromage on guitar, Leon O’Leary on bass, and Will Scott on drums) have figured out how to make heavy emotional themes feel totally weightless without losing any of their punch.
‘Breathe’ really stops you in your tracks. Dedicated to the late relative who first put a guitar in Callaghan’s hands, it’s a beautifully raw piece of songwriting that proves they can do fragile introspection just as effortlessly as a room-shaking anthem.
By the time the album wraps up, you’re left with the sense that The Now aren’t trying to fit into the current UK indie landscape – they’re actively trying to shake it up. Moments in Motion is vibrant, confident, and ridiculously fun to listen to. It’s the exact sound of a band finding their stride and running with it at full speed.
Stream ‘Moments In Motion’ here, and find out more about The Now and their music online via their official Website, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and Facebook.
