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Sleep Token Rocks the Hot 100: Why New Label RCA Is ‘Absolutely Thrilled’ by the Masked Metal Group’s ‘Emergence’ Debut
Sleep Token, the masked metal group, made its Hot 100 debut with new single "Emergence," and new label home RCA is "absolutely thrilled."
The song represents something of a mainstream arrival for a band that has existed in the shadows — since its formation nearly a decade ago, the members of Sleep Token have remained anonymous, performing onstage in masks and cloaks — but has become a commercial force in hard rock, with arena headline shows scheduled for the fall and upcoming album Even in Arcadia receiving a pronounced push from RCA Records. Like some of Sleep Token’s previous successful tracks, “Emergence” stretches past the six-minute mark, hopscotching between parted-clouds harmonies, thundering guitars and skittering electronics while deploying post-apocalyptic lyrics (“I’ve got solar flares for your dead gods, space dust for your fuel rods/ Dark days for your solstice, dancing through the depths of/ Hellfire, on the winds that started from within/ My blood beats so alive, might tear right through my skin”) that beg for a close read by those following the lore. Yet the key difference between “Emergence” and the band’s previous singles lies within the song’s refrain — “Go ahead and wrap your arms around me” — tuned-down and repeated multiple times, and catchy enough to beguile casual listeners.
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