Read As Everything Unfolds, ‘DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE?’ | The Album Story below:
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There are moments in life that completely change the course of where you are heading, both from a personal and a professional standpoint. And when you’re in a band, both of those things are wrapped up into one. For As Everything Unfolds, one of those very moments has come to define where they are now, how they will function in the future and why they are making music at all.
Halfway through the process of piecing together what would become their third full-length album, drummer Jamie Gowers, partner to vocalist Charlie Rolfe, passed away in August of 2024. For many a band, such a sudden event would bring a halt to almost everything. But for Charlie, it felt like all they really could do was keep going, no matter how much it hurt.
“We’ve been open about how hard it’s been, and I think part of it as well is admitting that it’s been shit. We’re allowed to say that it was fucking horrific, and that fluctuates depending on what’s happening. Some days it’s about getting stuff done, and others we’re living in it a little bit more, and then we feel, ‘Oh, this is rough.’ Stuff like touring or playing shows when we’re just present doing that, that’s when I feel like it’s most prevalent among us.
“But we’ve all discussed what we have felt comfortable doing, and we knew that it was relevant to the band’s progress, in terms of where we went from that and what the album ended up being. It’s like we have been bottling it up in a project and then setting it free.”
The word ‘free’ has come to be definitive for the band within this era, and ‘DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE?’ is the result of such a search for understanding. As much a detailed exploration of what it means to find yourself in limbo as it is a tribute to Jamie’s friendship, camaraderie, and dedicated work, it is a record that finds the band at their most thrillingly catchy and unrelentingly vulnerable. A collection of songs for anyone who has stared absolute oblivion in the face, but never gave up trying to find out what sort of solace and serenity is possible on the other side.
THE LYRICS
When Charlie thinks back on much of the making of ‘DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE?’, there are a lot of completely understandable black spots. Anybody who has experienced any variety of grief knows just how much passes you by whilst you are processing what you have experienced, made even more difficult when the world around you continues turning. But when she thinks back to the early stages of them piecing together what they thought this new album could be, before James passed on, there wasn’t much pressure being applied.
“We were just in the writing phase at that point, really, rather than the world-building stage,” Charlie remembers. “And then when it happened, we were about two-thirds through that writing process. From there, we felt like we just wanted to continue writing, because if we had just put out the songs we had been working on, it wouldn’t have felt right. Let’s do something with these feelings and actually create something.
“It’s okay that your art changes direction because of what happens in your life. I always feel like it should be a true representation of where you are at. I’m not going to sit here and say that it was the easiest thing to do, but you have to accept that’s what is going to happen. The change is going to happen.”
The most apparent shift in the sentiment can be heard in the lyrics that are found on the record’s closing one-two; the ethereal ‘EDGE OF FOREVER’ and the tear-drenched ‘SETTING SUN’. Bold, brave admissions of vulnerability and overwhelming emotion, the songs feel like a necessary curtain call for an album that, up until then, sits in a much more liminal space. Songs that bounce between the thoughts and feelings that inspired them, much like the seven stages of grief show themselves as and when we least expect them, it shows off the sort of uniquely numb mindset the band, and Charlie in particular, were inhabiting. Less of a darkness, but more of a greyness. An in-between. A purgatory between a complete breakdown and a chance to mend and move on.
“I was spending a lot of time in this daydream space, and I couldn’t escape it,” she explains. “Time would pass, and I wouldn’t even notice. That’s why this album has ended up actually being such a weird representation of what was a true journey. Our path got taken from us from under our feet, and we had to try and find another path, because you can never go down that original path again.”
Though now that they are out the other side, Charlie looks back at many of the lyrics she wrote during this pursuit for a new perspective with even more of an air of interest. Of looking at what that version of herself was able to make at a time when she felt she wasn’t able actually to make sense of anything. There is a defiance cemented into so many moments on this album, one that in another timeline doesn’t even exist. A sort of defiance that is rooted deep inside our humanity, the sort we don’t even realise we are capable of. And now, Charlie can see exactly what she was capable of when all seemed lost.
“The truth is that this shocked me into life,” she starkly admits. “It was like somebody buzzed you awake whilst you were fast asleep. And that actually helped, because it showed me that you don’t have to follow the conventional structure of grief that society puts on you. I’m a very firm believer that there’s no direct path for everyone, and that is what invigorated us to carry on. Now I look back, and I am so proud of what we have done.”
THE COLLABORATORS
One example of how unconventional the band’s grief was is how quickly they were back on the road. Though the decision to join Bury Tomorrow on tour across the UK and Europe may have seemed a rash one from some out there, it certainly wasn’t something that was just decided internally. It was something everyone, from Jamie’s family to Charlie’s therapist, discussed and put forward.
Though there are few better bands to go out and scream into the void before than Bury Tomorrow. Not just a band that the band consider friends and confidants now, but a band that Charlie holds in such high regard as a huge influence on her as an artist and a vocalist. And though there was no initial intent to have any features on this very personal record, there was just something that, after everything they had experienced together during this impossible period, felt right about Dani Winter-Bates lending this voice to the cause, specifically on the bristling ‘WHAT YOU WANTED’.
“You cross paths when you’re British bands going around in Europe, and you stick together at festivals and things,” Charlie explains. “But then, during the tour, we had such a good rapport. Our chemistry was great, and we just had such a good laugh. Everybody was vibes. So then, after it, this just made so much sense. It was literally a case of me WhatsApping Dani and being like, ‘Hey, dude, fancy being on our track?’ and him being, ‘Fuck yes.’ It was such a natural thing, and with what the song is about and what Dani talks about, it couldn’t have been more perfect.
“And also, as a fan of Bury Tomorrow myself, that almost came secondary, which was such a bizarre thing for me. It wasn’t at the forefront; I was thinking more about whether this was right for my band and putting my band first, over, ‘Oh wow, this is one of my favourite bands.’ That made me feel really proud because I realised I was in the sort of position where I could actually do that.”
THE SOUND
If you were to listen to the whole of the As Everything Unfolds discography from front to back, you would see just how much their scope for who they are and where they sit has changed. Of course, there is still a huge adoration for metalcore within their creations, but the biggest thing to be pulled from where the band sit sonically on ‘DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE?’ is just how big everything sounds. The rallying melodies at the core of ‘GASOLINE’, the funky pacing that defines ‘CUT THE LIES’, the arena-ready heft of ‘IDOLS’, they are all the result of a band not content with being defined by one thing or one scene anymore. And when things do get heavy again, it’s all the more punishing because of the restraint applied.
For Charlie, it comes from a very simple but incredibly poignant sentiment, one that should sit at the centre of every band’s writing process.
“Our big motto is, ‘Always serve the song,” she states. “We see people going, ‘Where’s the breakdown?’ when they listen to a particular song, but like, listen to it. It’s clearly not called for, is it? It’s the same with my vocals and my scream. I’m not just doing this to tick a box. I’m doing this because that’s what it felt like it needed to do at that point. Familiarity is what keeps music going, but we have to break the mould sometimes. And because of us doing that, I feel like this album is definitely more authentic.”
Having such an approach is definitely important at this time in the band’s journey. When they have more eyes on them than ever, and are playing the biggest shows of their career, to water down or adapt how you truly feel for the sake of somebody else just doesn’t cut it. This band needs to represent its members now more than ever before, and if that means going against the grain, then so be it.
“I think people are weirdly used to like conventional structures and bands following the same formulas,” Charlie adds. “We love to experiment and flow between sounds, and I think that’s why I am such an advocate for albums still. It allows you the space to try things and ultimately have fun. If a cool poppy song like ‘GASOLINE’ comes out of it, awesome. If a really weird fucking EDM track comes out of it, also fucking cool. It will always be interesting to us.”
THE TITLE
Even before As Everything Unfolds, Charlie has always been an advocate for the power of a good album title. Always enjoying the process of putting them together for her own art, there was something about this particular record that she felt much more pressure to get right. Taking a long time to figure out what should umbrella such a personal unburdening, all she knew was that it had to be a question.
“There was just something in me that made me feel like it needed to be a question, but I just couldn’t make anything work, and got really burnt out on it. Then, I remember one day Adam [Kerr, Guitarist] went, ‘Well, have you read the lyrics?’ I was quite defensive and quite dismissive of his suggestion, because of course I had, but then after sitting on it a while, I thought I’d go through it again. At the time, ‘SET AND FLOW’ was going to be the opening track of the album, and the first line is ‘And so I ask to be set free’. I just felt like it encapsulated everything.”
That idea of freedom can be put towards anything when you really consider it. Are you asking to be free from the technology we have become so ruled by? Are you asking to be set free from the ways of modern society? Are you asking to be set free from the situation that you find yourself in? There is a subjectiveness to the question, and on an album that has so much of what they have been through coating it, there was a sense of relief found in that ambiguity for Charlie. Much like in some of her favourite films – Blade Runner, The Matrix, Donnie Darko – there are questions left unanswered, and isn’t that sometimes better than knowing everything?
After going through what they have, leaving things as they are and not questioning the why and how has meant they can make of it all whatever they want. And the hope is that everyone who listens to it can have their own take, too.
“I always try to make sure that what we have made is listenable from so many different perspectives,” Charlie explains. “So I’m sure some people will listen to it and go, ‘Fuck, I can really relate to this, but it’s not even anything to do with what I’ve been through. I really like that.”
THE FUTURE
In many ways, there is a huge sense of relief in this album finally no longer just belonging to As Everything Unfolds. The fact that it even exists is a testament to the band’s resilience, but even with that in mind, Charlie is excited to put the lid on this period, push that box away, and have a little bit of space.
But within that, it’s clear just how proud she is that, despite some heartbreak and horror, she and the rest of the band have been able to make something that means the world to them. Because there’s a universe where they aren’t doing this anymore. They could very easily have called it a day the moment they found out that Jamie had left them. But by doing what felt right, they have created a body of work that represents him, them, and everyone who has been, and will be, associated with As Everything Unfolds.
This album is now permanent, and there is immense power in that.
“Letting things go and setting things free has felt like a bit of a thing for me recently,” she admits. “Things just exist, and things are going to happen, and you can’t control it. You can’t micromanage life; it doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t give you the benefit of that. So, for me, the idea of being set free; it is from my anxieties? Is it from my own world that I find myself in?
“But there have been multiples times a day where I have thought that if I left all of this, this band, behind, would it make this all easier to deal with? And I don’t think it would. I had to make a decision based on how I felt at the time, and now looking back, I feel like I made the right decision. Because I feel like where I am now is miles ahead of where I would have been if I didn’t.”
