Background and release
In February 2025, the band began hinting at a new project through a series of cryptic social media posts on TikTok, Instagram and other platforms. [3] In addition to new artwork and iconography, hidden messages in cyphers and on released sheet music contained references to a blood moon and the numbers 72, 13, and 3, hinting towards an announcement on 13 March, the 72nd day of the year and the date of a a blood moon lunar eclipse. [4] [5] [6] [7]
On 13 March 2025, Sleep Token officially announced their fourth studio album entitled Even in Arcadia, due for release 9 May 2025. They simultaneously released their first single from the album, entitled "Emergence," on all streaming platforms. A new tour of the United States was announced with confirmed dates and a new website with brand new merchandise available to pre-order was launched. [8]
The album's second single, "Caramel", was revealed through a series of posts by WRAL-TV meteorologist Chris Michaels, and was released on 4 April 2025. [9] The song debuted at #34 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's highest-charting single to date. [10] A third single, "Damocles", released on 25 April 2025. [11]
Critical reception
Even in Arcadia was met with generally favorable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received a weighted average score of 64, based on eight reviews, which the website categorised as "generally favorable" reception. [21]
Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic gave Even in Arcadia a positive review, commending the band for incorporating many different "styles" on the album. He described the track "Caramel" as the album standout, while deeming the album "a streamlined evolution of their established sound". [23] Writing for Clash , Susan Hansen opined that the album "is an absorbing listen" and that the band explores "unused genre territory" on the record. Hansen ends her review by stating that "Sleep Token's mastery of building musical enigma is completely seamless and continuous, and Even in Arcadia is no exception. It's a unique commercial and artistic asset, which cannot be taught. If anything, they take the precise quality to the next level on this project, with a refinement that's there for everyone to witness". [24] Emma Wilkes of Kerrang! wrote an overall positive review, describing the track "Past Self" as "airy synth-and-drum-machine pop" that "gets a little wobbly," but claiming that the album's "minor quibbles are easily dwarfed by the height of its peaks". [26] Rishi Shah of NME acclaimed the album, opining that it "shatters any pressure of expectation into oblivion, building on the bravery of its predecessor, sonically, while its lyrics reveal the most exposed version of Vessel we've seen yet. From Eden to Arcadia – and beyond – let the worship continue". [19]
Conversely, the album was panned by Eli Enis of Pitchfork , who described it as "smooth, flat, edgeless, and utterly lacking in dynamic payoffs, despite its many attempts to swing from breathy ballads to bludgeoning breakdowns". [13] Likewise, a staff reviewer from Sputnikmusic was critical of the album, criticizing its lyrics and describing the album as "probably the band's best and worst work yet". The reviewer continued by stating that "Sleep Token have conclusively proven themselves to be wholly incompetent songwriters, and everything here is almost offensively boring". [15]
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