Six months ago, Sarah had left. She hadn't stormed out; she had faded out, like a song ending on a cassette tape that’s been left in the sun. The arguments had been loud, then quiet, then non-existent. Elias had been too stubborn, too sharp-tongued, too sure that being "right" was more important than being kind.

Unlike her previous albums, Failer and Back to Me , which both kicked off with uptempo rockers, Asking for Flowers begins with the quiet, contemplative . It features Edwards on the piano—an instrument she taught herself to play specifically for this record—and sets a somber, cinematic tone that persists throughout the eleven tracks.

Asking For Flowers represents a departure from the punchy, guitar-driven rock of her earlier work toward a more nuanced, piano-led, and lyrically dense sound.

Outside the window of his fourth-floor walkup, the city was drowning in a cold, relentless March rain. It was the kind of rain that didn't wash things clean; it just made the grime slicker.