It’s clear from the second you press play on monitor one among ‘Even In Arcadia’ you could neglect the whole lot you thought you knew about Sleep Token, the mysterious band clearly intent on subverting all of their listeners’ expectations as soon as once more.
Since they final graced us with 2023 providing ‘Take Me Again To Eden’, the group have quietly grown to turn out to be probably the most thrilling sensation in UK steel, not solely repeatedly pushing themselves into extra exploratory territory however bringing in swathes of recent followers with them, increasing the attain and affect of the style as a complete. Following the crowning glory of 2024’s bought out enviornment tour, anticipation for brand spanking new music has by no means been larger. Nonetheless, that elevated strain and scrutiny seems to have solely fuelled their fireplace additional as they ship undoubtedly their most assured and completed assortment but.
A single alarm-like synth riff welcomes us into ‘Look To Windward’ as Vessel begs his topic to ‘hault this eclipse in me’ over rising, plucked strings and swirling, duelling vocal traces earlier than lowering the whole lot again to a single whisper that grows right into a prolonged scream, a transparent assertion of intent and completely setting the stage for what’s to return.
Pushing their huge palette of sounds to the very restrict, the band transfer skilfully between the anthemic stylings of singles ‘Emergence’ and ‘Damocles’ and the playful R’N’B, nearly garage-like beats of ‘Previous Self’ and ‘Harmful’, the previous simply making for his or her most poppy, accessible and radio-friendly monitor thus far. But whereas the compositions push outwards into beforehand unchartered realms, lyrically Vessel strikes inward, revealing extra of his soul than ever earlier than.
‘Caramel’ has already unveiled itself as a well timed and intelligent dissection of fame and its subsequent traumas however equally ‘Previous Self’ asks ‘Are you gonna dance on the road with me? You understand it’s not a recreation or fantasy, and I don’t even know who I was’, the narrative and masks the group cover behind not ample in shielding them from forces exterior of their management. The direct nature and specificity of most of the references could possibly be off-putting, however they as an alternative enable the listener to additional perceive the nameless determine on the centre of them, Vessel’s aching vocal traces discovering a solution to make the idea of ‘making an attempt to cover within the limelight’ relatable to anybody who has ever felt alone in a crowd. By deliberately conserving us at a distance, he has nonetheless constructed a bridge to his viewers, connecting on a purely human degree that transcends the theatrics.
The album’s title monitor will already really feel considerably acquainted to devoted followers, the opening chimes heard in earlier teaser movies bleeding shortly into the piano half despatched out to followers upon the period’s preliminary announcement. ‘Seems the gods we thought had been dieing had been simply sharpening their blades’, Vessel proclaims, bringing Eden’s legendary creatures into sharp view over a dramatic outro that completely soundtracks a film that by no means existed.
However the undoubted spotlight is ‘Gethsemane’, a six minute epic that begins with a simplistic, Beatles-esque keyboard riff and a lament of misplaced love – ‘I used to be your robotic companion, you had been my favorite color’ – earlier than we attain a sequence of strung out, proggy guitars paying homage to ‘Infinity Land’-era Biffy Clyro, finally transitioning right into a heavier part that’s then engulfed by lure beats, the group utilizing the entire instruments at their disposal to nice impact, effortlessly mixing collectively a number of kinds with out falling into something remotely disjointed.
Because the closing screams of ‘Infinite Baths’ fade into black, we’re left with the realisation that this as soon as in a technology band could have simply made the defining rock document of the final decade, an LP constructed for a brand new technology unfazed by their quick-flying motion between worlds and able to devour and analyse each intricate element shared throughout their most private work thus far. Begin counting down the times to Obtain Competition – the gates to Arcadia are about to open.
‘Even In Arcadia’ is out on Might 09 by way of RCA Information.
