The Movement ADD

Review

Album Review: The Movement - Visions

07/21/2025

by Gardy Stein

Founded in 2003, The Movement has grown to be a key player in not only the Californian, but the whole US Reggae scene. During more than two decades on the road, on stages and in studios, they have made connections and gathered inspirations for a great number of releases, and now come forward again with Visions, their ninth full album. The press release tells us that it “charts a celestial and cerebral path through the cosmos and straight into the consciousness, leaving a renewed sense of wonder and purpose”. We are invited to follow this path, for sure, so let’s see what we’ll find on the way!

“What are we here for?” is the question this album starts with in the intro, and oh, have generations of great thinkers and philosophers mused on this one. “We’re here to learn, to cultivate, to develop, to wake up!” is the answer given in Wake Up, and it leads us directly into Putting Up 2. That song sure brings that Movement vibe to the fore, resonating with the combined skills of band members Joshua Swain (lead vocals & guitar), Jason Schmidt (bass), Gary Jackson (drums), Matthew Goodwin (keys & DJ) and Kyle Jerome (sax & percussions). Just like River Guide You, it doesn’t seem very off-beat at first, but has an undeniable skank if you listen closely.

Other songs are more directly relatable to the genre (Make It Through and Promised Land, for instance), and the choice of featured artists also speaks of the Movement’s  musical affiliation – they are US reggae royalty, all. Tribal Seeds, around for at least twenty years as well, joins in on the EDM- and trap-infused Deep Blue Sea, speaking of the connection felt to this watery element, and Boston-based The Elovaters take it Nice & Slow on a track that is not as laid-back as its title suggests. A little slower in pace is Live It Up, a celebration of summer and life. The song features The Green, a band originally from Hawaii, and in the beginning we hear what sounds like a busy street or park – outside!

Visions, the title track, is another collaboration with Stick Figure, who were already featured on the 2019 album Ways Of The World. The voices of the two singers, Scott Woodruff and Joshua, blend well with each other, and together they spin a story of love to what could be a beloved human or goddess, both. “Let us have visions of a lifetime, we gotta listen to understand!” The only name not known to me before was Nick Hexum, an American singer and songwriter who is featured on So Cool.

With Selene, another easy-listening love song, and the rather weird This Is Your Life, some different flavors are thrown in (we’re talking ominous prophecy plus Dancehall beat plus hypnotizing country strings plus Balkan brass here). Hand Grenade, finally, closes the oeuvre with a taste of sweet acoustic, it seems, but behold… comes minute 1:23 and the fire is on! Visions is an extremely interesting album that will definitely leave you, if not filled with wonder and purpose, awake.

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