Review: Against the Current – ‘that won’t save us’

Against the Current has, admittedly, fallen off my radar for a significant period of time. After their 2018 album Past Lives, they’ve released no new music. Yet a few days before the end of October the band released their new single ‘that won’t save us’, which had been in the works since January.

A rock-fuelled sound comes through in the single, furious and effectively pointing fingers at its listeners. Singer Crissy Costanza words show how “[she]got so sick of feeling so small” but “just giving up/just won’t save us”. The track is their chance to scream to the heavens about their frustrations, the music video ending with the trio staring at what they once knew going up in flames.

While I adore the rest of the song, it’s bridge just feels disjointed from the rest of ‘that won’t save us’, almost as if it is taken from a different song entirely, with the transition into and out of choruses feeling perhaps a bit jarring from heavier guitar-led verses. It’s lighter and Costanza’s words are the central focus as even the music video’s camera shot focuses on her face and reactions.

With the single’s contents and lyrics inspired by Costanza’s own desire to just scream and shout and just fully emote, when you are that desperate to be heard, and that angry, you can see why the video has so much focus on close ups. Fury is raw emotion, and “that won’t save us” brings that out; somethings need to be said, even if they’re just said for you.

It’s hard to imagine that Costanza is the same woman who sang ‘Legends Never Die’ in 2017, but it’s a testament to how unique and developed their sound is now; Against The Current’s rock sounds like a completely different band than when they leaned more into the pop genre. They have already admitted that in this ‘new’ age of the band they are heading back to their roots, those early days of YouTube stardom where they posted rocked-up covers of “Heart Attack” or “Beauty and a Beat”.

I’m so glad they’re back, and can’t wait to see what their upcoming music will sound like.

‘that won’t save us’ is available to listen to now via Fueled By Ramen.