Arriving in time for the summer festival season, “So Low” finds Savage After Midnight (S.A.M.) delivering a pitch-perfect hard rock anthem.
Let me know if this sounds familiar. While navigating the increasingly complicated world, you find yourself on a run of bad luck with no money in your pocket and all the stress in the world weighing on your shoulders. You try to drown out the suffering through whatever means necessary, but you can never escape the feeling of losing hope. Some may describe this feeling as drowning on dry land. Others may say it’s like fighting with every ounce of energy you can to climb a hill without ever reaching the summit. Either way, the sensation of living is fading, and you don’t know where to turn.
Savage After Midnight (S.A.M.) knows these sensations well. Having spent the past year working on new material, the band found common ground in the isolating feeling of falling behind. They realize everyone feels at the end of their rope at times, and they’ve written the perfect anthem to help people get back on their feet. “So Low” is the crushing and cathartic rally cry against the dying of the light. It’s the kind of song that inspires you to stand tall, shake the dust and aches from your fragile frame, and continue onward.
In many ways, “So Low” is the song we need right now. We can talk all day about life returning to normal, but we all know deep down that nothing is normal. The human race lost a year to a disease we still don’t understand. Our relationships were strained in an unprecedented way, leaving many of us feeling as if we had to stand alone against our greatest demons. Some gave in to temptations of temporary escape, such as drugs and alcohol, while others found themselves muffled under the weight of depression. We were all suffering together, alone.
S.A.M. understands the importance of this moment. The group recognizes that how we process and recover from the past year determines everything that happens next. If we try to pretend as if we haven’t been dancing with our demons, we are doomed to repeat negative behaviors until they defeat us. The band wants better for us, and “So Low” is their way of urging listens to search for healthier coping mechanisms.
As the lyrics deal with the idea of grasping for things that can no longer tether you to reality, the music thunders with this propulsive energy that causes you to lean in. While many of the lines describe dark times, there is no denying the sense that recognizing the struggles is the first step to getting better. When we admit our lack of control, we can better navigate the waters of existence. “So Low” is about allowing the flow to continue and ride downstream with it. S.A.M. wants us to stop fighting to go back and instead focus on what lies ahead. You can do anything you aspire to achieve, and S.A.M. will provide the soundtrack.
