Review Summary: A left turn, but an agile one.
Up to this point, As Everything Unfolds’ career was a perfect example of evolution in music. Starting off as a fairly unimposing post-hardcore band, with their first long player
Within Each Lies the Other they’ve transcended onto the plane of more realized and ambitious songwriting. Sure, the album had its flaws, but made up for them with unwaning intensity and some absolutely epic choruses. Its follow-up
Ultraviolet was even more of an improvement, taking cues from pop punk and nu metal, tidying up the mix and opting for a less over-the-top approach. The sound became clearer, more focused, and so charming that the record quickly found itself in my top of the decade. You can imagine my hype when I saw new singles dropping last year…
And that’s when the linear progression took a left turn.
DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE? changes the course for AEU both visually and musically, and it’s quite awesome how these two aspects complement each other. The MVs consist of hi-res shots with analogue-esque accents, the artwork outright reeks of retro pop, and the music itself mixes multiple styles of old and new. The general formula is that of pop rock with down-tuned guitars, lots of digital effects on vocals and occasional screams, but the album maintains surprising diversity throughout. Between all the disco, glam rock and techno bits, musical-esque vibes and unexpected shots at EDM, this thing never gets boring. It’s also worth noting that the metal elements work different here than on many other "mainstream" albums at the moment. Most of the time, the heavily distorted screams and breakdowns don’t tick off any boxes for me as a listener, nor do they provide contrast to the rest of the music – they simply add to the flow. Take the final moments of
DENIAL for instance: heavy guitars enter along with Charlie going harsh behind the mic, yet that doesn’t remotely change the course of the song and isn’t even a traditionally understood focal point.
But while it might not seem like it, a big factor for the album’s shape was grief. Despite having more in common with
Ultraviolet (to the point where many tracks pretty much retrace
Daylight), it’s underpinned by gloom most similar to the atmosphere of
Within Each Lies the Other. This is most importantly because of the rupture that happened well into the writing process: the untimely death of the band’s drummer Jamie Gowers. The band’s trying to go on after that event resulted with a noticeably darker sound for the album, even though the music became fundamentally lighter. I think it’s best showcased by
REVERIE – it’s very light and catchy, playful even, yet still carries a tangible sense of vulnerability.
Where the album truly messes up is the pacing. The way these songs are organized feels somewhat random, except saving the two calmest and most emotional ones for the finale. The exceedingly fast and dancey
GASOLINE pops up oddly early and in-between two longer, slower and infinitely more dramatic cuts.
CUT THE LIES marks its frenetic, bouncy presence amidst pained balladry, feeling just as confusing as it is awesome on its own. The aforementioned
DENIAL, despite being a satisfyingly dark track, feels less like an opener than the quick and quirky
SET IN FLOW. Which is funny, because Charlie admitted that the initial candidate for the spot was, indeed, the latter.
So, how does the pop rock label suit the band in the end? Depends on whether you like it or not of course, but I have to say that per the genre’s standards, this is a really well-crafted release. Behind the total change of style, this is still the same band with a tendency for mood swings and excellent ears for melody. Another thing about
DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE? is that, while it might feel tempting to label it as mainstream metal, treating it as such is ultimately detrimental to the experience. It’s rather a pop record with various external influences, and metal is only one of them – there’s barely any use looking out for it. For some, this might be bad news. The good news is, while As Everything Unfolds drive off in a lighter direction, they do so with style.
