"Emergence" is a song by anonymous English rock band Sleep Token. Written by the band's frontman Vessel and drummer II, it was produced by Carl Bown and released as the lead single from the band's fourth studio album Even in Arcadia on 13 March 2025, their first release for RCA Records. The track was Sleep Token's first to register on the main singles charts in both the UK and the US, reaching number 17 on the UK Singles Chart and number 57 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
After sharing several "teasers" for new material over the previous weeks, Sleep Token released "Emergence" as the first song from their upcoming fourth album Even in Arcadia on 13 March 2025.[5] The single marked the band's first release through RCA Records, with whom they had signed in 2024.[6] The track was accompanied by a visualiser video which depicts a green banner with a coat of arms and three axes, standing amid a "flowery pink landscape", slowly burning as the song plays.[7]
Composition and style
"Emergence" is described by NME reviewer Rishi Shah as a "sprawling" and "genre-defying" song in the same vein as Take Me Back to Eden tracks "Ascensionism" and "Take Me Back to Eden".[3] Shah writes in his review of the single that the track begins with "soul-stirring piano and divine guitar" which carry "the hallmarks of a more blissful new chapter", before transitioning into heavier sections including "Avenged Sevenfold-esque guitar tapping and trap-pop cadences", followed by "one signature, heaven-sent chorus" and finally "an extended jazz outro".[3]Revolver identified similar compositional elements, noting the track's opening with "soulful vocals, sparse piano and ambient hum", which is then followed by "skittering electronic beats", "heavy downtuned riffage" and an "epic climax".[7]
In a feature published by Rock Sound, conductor Edwin Outwater described "Emergence" as "a prog metal ballad" which later "transforms into something new and something different"; composer and music professor Shaun Michaud likened its style to pop music; and classic music commentator Kyle MacDonald highlighted "the drama of the shifts in the instrumentation, from piano, to gentle guitar, then to full metal orchestration".[1] In a feature analysing the song's lyrical content, Revolver writer Gregory Adams suggested that "The vibe [of the song] seems to hinge on people being on the precipice of a major change, Vessel explaining that it's time to "come out from underneath who you were... You know that it's time to emerge"".[8]
Critical reception
Media response to "Emergence" was positive. Rishi Shah gave the single four out of five stars in a review published by the NME, claiming that the song "showcases the arena-slaying masked metallers at their sprawling, genre-defying best".[3]Revolver magazine called the track "stunning",[7] while Quentin Thane Singer of Forbes dubbed it "another great offering" and "very dynamic".[4]
Commercial performance
Upon its release, "Emergence" became Sleep Token's first song to register on the UK Singles Chart, debuting at number 17.[9] It was also the band's first song to reach the top 10 of the UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart, peaking at number one, and debuted at number 30 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart, number 31 on the UK Streaming Chart, and number 32 on the UK Singles Sales Chart.[9] The single was also the band's first to register on the main Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, debuting at number 57 after receiving 9.9 million streams in the US during its first week (as well as topping the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart and reaching number seven on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart).[2] Elsewhere, "Emergence" reached number 38 in Australia,[10] number 78 in Canada,[11] and number 81 in Ireland.[12]
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