One of music’s innumerable, inherent powers is its ability to change, both over the years and with the listener. Bands aren’t immune from this spell either, as Charlie Rolfe, vocalist of genre-defiant rockers As Everything Unfolds has experienced throughout the band’s decade-plus existence.
The magnetic frontwoman and her bandmates – guitarist Adam Kerr, bassist George Hunt, and keyboardist/sound-whiz Jon Cassidy – love watching their songs morph beyond their own interpretations once out in the public.
But they’d never had such a dramatic and immediate focus shift as when beloved bandmember, drummer, and Rolfe’s boyfriend Jamie Gowers died in August 2024.
It traumatized her and nearly ended the band. They questioned if they’d be able to finish their upcoming third album, and as they picked up the pieces the scope of the material instantly changed. What started as visual homages to Rolfe’s favorite films took on new significance as she tried to escape her new reality.
“I was talking to Taylor Larson, who mixed our record, about how songs change meaning almost like they're supposed to,” she says. “Like, they’re in the world already and you don't even know. I came up with this idea before Jamie passed away. Then afterwards I suffered a lot with maladaptive daydreaming, which is a PTSD response to basically not wanting to live in the real world. I would rather sit on the sofa and stay in, or I'd go to bed two hours early just so I could maladaptively daydream before I go to sleep. I'm taking myself to this other world because it's safer and it's better.
“Then I sort of went, ‘Wait, what if I take that and put it into what I've created?’ Like I'm trying to escape this world into these film worlds that I love and I adore.”
DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE? asks whether you’d rather remain in a false sense of security that will eventually destroy you, or wrench yourself through the harsh pain of reality to better days.
“It's a difficult question, because it's fucking hard,” Rolfe says. “You get invested in this world that isn’t real. You're like, ‘No, I quite like being here, actually. I got everything I need in this world that's real to me.’ But it's not real. It doesn't fulfill you and it doesn't give you what you need.
“That was a big influence. It wasn't necessarily what the songs were written about specifically, but it kind of became the overarching theme. Again, I didn't pursue it like that, it wasn't even a real conscious decision. It just happened.”
The record is a sonic tapestry woven together by AEU’s penchant for heavy riffs, mesmerizing synths, infusions of electropop and Rolfe’s show-stopping voice. Songs like “GASOLINE” and “SET IN FLOW” dial up the adrenaline-charged intensity, while the melancholic “DENIAL” and anthemic “WHAT YOU WANTED” (featuring Bury Tomorrow’s Dani Winter-Bates) will inspire group sing-a-longs during every setlist.
It’s a testament to their passion for music, their love for each other, and their unyielding pursuit to share their art with the world.
“This album's been so difficult to make for so many reasons, but we're really proud of it,” Rolfe says. “To be able to deal with what we've dealt with and to get up something at the end of it that we're really proud of is incredible.
“You know, George said a really good thing recently, he was like, ‘This is the hardest album we'll ever have to do. If we can do this, we can do anything.’
One step at a time
The first big hurdle AEU had to face came only months later in the form of a looming European tour supporting Bury Tomorrow, Make Them Suffer and Thornhill.
The band, and especially Rolfe, thought long and hard on whether it was something they could even physically do. Ultimately, to the last they all decided to cope with their loss the only way they knew how: playing music.
“I'm sure there were people that thought it was strange that I was going out on tour a couple of months after Jamie passed, but it was right for me,” she says. “I was fully supported by all the people that knew me, because they knew what I love to do. So choosing to do that didn't feel like I was doing it for the wrong reasons. It was probably the opposite. I think I would have been worse off [if I didn't].”
The tour was raw and emotional. There were times when Rolfe had to step off stage to cry it out. But it was a welcome and healthy distraction. She credits the Bury Tomorrow camp on down for creating an atmosphere that allowed them to genuinely enjoy themselves.
“It helped because it made us remember that life is for living,” she said. “Things happen and it's awful, but we can't freeze and not do things because the world around us thinks that we shouldn't be doing it or that it's the wrong thing to do.”
It also helped cement the decision to see their third album all the way through. Rolfe, Kerr and Hunt have been together in As Everything Unfolds since 2013 and, while they were fully prepared to accept the end of the band, all of them wanted to keep going.
“We felt like there was still more to give on it,” she says. “Because Jamie was part of the record there was also an element of not wanting the demos just to end up demos forever and never see the light of day. I remember him telling us what songs were his favorite ones, what he liked and what he didn't like. There was so much that we'd all put into this album, including him. So it felt like it would be a disservice to not do it.”
However, the band was under no delusions of the uphill battle ahead.
“We knew – and I knew – it was going to be fucking hard, if I'm being blunt. At the same time, all of it's been hard, the whole process. So one more hard thing was not going to add any more weight to what I was dealing with.”
Creating despite everything
The dreamlike atmosphere of DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE? allowed the band to break some aesthetic rules and approach their videos with no limits. For instance, on GASOLINE, Rolfe channels her fiercest Mina Harker as she steps into the pages of Stoker’s novel, surrounded by the ominous glow of dozens of candles
“It's weird for a band like us to do something like that, but that's exactly why it makes it interesting,” she says. “I've always loved gothic visuals ever since I was a kid. I was a big fan of the film Van Helsing, which I know is terribly, critically panned, but I love it. It's unbelievable cinema, and I always loved the ballroom scene in that film.
“[The videos are] all very different, and that is deliberate. With the concept of the record being this person living maladaptively in these spaces, it's just weird and jumpy and bizarre and not real. It's so out there. On a real level, I love those films and that is fundamentally why I chose them visually.”
“SET IN FLOW” is inspired by Blade Runner’s Voight-Kampff test, and the question of if something created can really be human. Their decision to release it as the album’s lead single was a huge risk, given its unconventional structure and lack of a real chorus, but one they wanted to take.
“We were okay doing something for ourselves for once. You can get very lost in the commercial side of it, which is why ‘SET IN FLOW’ was us putting our stamp and going, ‘No, no, no, we're gonna do this.’
“I don't even care what it performs on streaming services because it's a great live song,” Rolfe says. “There are songs that perform quite poorly on our streaming services that our fans love live and we love playing live.”
At the same time, they’re navigating a constantly shifting musical landscape. Making and playing music is now just a small fraction of artists' responsibilities. Even then, they have to balance writing music that feeds their soul while also selling tickets and t-shirts.
“It’s hard because we're not kids anymore and we've got to be realistic about our life situations,” Rolfe says. “We have to think about the ‘business’ side of it. We all still work full time. We've still got rent, mortgages to pay. But at the same time we’re still trying to be authentic and retain what got us into this in the first place.”
Being set free?
Although immensely proud of the record, Rolfe knows it’s not perfect. However, as she’s learned to manage her grief and grown into a stronger person, she’s also been able to approach her art with more focus.
“I've stopped sweating the small stuff,” she says. “Things that used to send me into a spiral of anxiety don't anymore. Something that I would have spent hours worrying about when people probably won't even pick up on it. We've tried our best to make it work, and people will either like the songs or they won't. I would have loved to have sat down more and made it more cohesive, maybe blend some tracks together.
“But again, the circumstances around this album, the priority was more just getting the songs out. If we sat and fine tuned it for too long, I don't think we would have released it.”
The songs on DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE? have already changed so much, but their journey is just getting started. As the band gets ready to release it into the world, they’re excited to see how other people will make it their own and how the songs will take on new life. Mostly, they’re happy to close this chapter of their story.
“We felt like a little bit of weight’s been lifted at the finishing line,” Rolfe says. “Now we can actually enjoy the songs and start to engage with people. I'm really looking forward to living in this album, in the best part of it, which is the enjoyment of what you've created.”
One thing that still lurks around the corner is how she’ll feel when she’s on stage singing and living in the songs night after night. The band has a busy summer of festival appearances before a full European tour with Future Palace in the fall. With the added weight behind the album, Rolfe has some apprehension that grief might rear its ugly head but she says it goes back to not sweating the small stuff.
“I think you’ve just got to take it as it comes. I know that the boys are there to support me, our crew, our team, no one's going to be angry at me if it happens. Fans aren't going to be angry at me. It's okay. We're human.”
If anything, playing these songs in a different city every night will be even more therapeutic than avoiding them.
“My exposure therapy has been my biggest help,” Rolfe says. “Without it, if I'd have just sat in my house and not spoken to anybody and not done anything, I don't think I'd be any further forward. It's like an accelerant, doing these things.
“Grief never leaves you. It just gets smaller to a point where you can manage it. Getting up and playing those songs and getting through it is the best thing I can do. Running away from it is not going to make it better. It's arguably going to make it worse.”
As she’s gotten to the other side of the worst thing she’ll ever go through, Rolfe wants people to know that no matter what it is or how hard it seems, they can do it too.
“The main takeaway from this album, that was never intended to be, is if you want to you can.” she says. “Don't let society tell you what's right and what's wrong for you to do at a particular point in time, especially in grief. In things like grief you can still create something that you're proud of. It doesn't make the pain better. It doesn't make it go away, but it just changes how you can look at it.”
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DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE? from As Everything Unfolds is now available via Century Media Records. Order the album - HERE
Catch As Everything Unfolds live in support of DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE? The band will perform a handful of festival appearances including Download and 2000 Tress ahead of the extensive EU/UK tour supporting Future Palace on the Deep Blue Tour. See a complete list of confirmed dates below.
