Sleep Token's Even In Arcadia Conquers the Charts, Becoming Their First No. 1 Album

Their first three albums were a conceptual trilogy, but Sleep Token cut loose with their standalone fourth album, Even In Arcadia, which becomes their first No. 1

Sleep Token cut loose with their standalone fourth album, Even In Arcadia, which becomes their first No.1, scorching to the top of the chart on first week consumption of 28,223 units.

Comprising 4,195 CDs, 11,171 vinyl albums, 237 cassettes, 1,433 digital downloads and 11,187 sales-equivalent streams, that’s more than double the combined first week tallies of their albums hitherto.

Their uncharted 2019 debut Sundowning had first week sales of 483; 2021 follow-up This Place Will Be Your Tomb registered 2,048 sales debuting and peaking at No.39; and 2023 release, Take Me Back To Eden, opened and peaked at No.3 on consumption of 11,611 units. All have increased those initial tallies hugely – Take Me Back To Eden leads the way (132,796 units), followed by Sundowning (108,055 sales across vocal and instrumental editions) and This Place Will Become Your Tomb (83,213 sales, also two editions). Even In Arcadia, had a significant leak last week, racking up 776 pre-release sales.

Preserving their anonymity by wearing masks, Sleep Token have four members when they tour, but only two in the studio. Their songs are written and recordings performed only by full members Vessel (lyrics and music) and Vessel 2 (music only).

Wearing masks to preserve anonymity isn’t a new thing of course, similarly-shy American metal band Slipknot had the first of their three No.1s thus clad in 2001, while Kiss had many hit albums before showing their faces. Swedish band Ghost – whose Skeletá was No.2 a fortnight ago – are among others to veil their visages.

Sleep Token hadn’t had a hit single until March, but with the title track and Look To Windward debuting this week, they have now had five, all from Even In Arcadia. And the UK isn’t the only country in which Even In Arcadia is exploding – it is already No.1 in Germany, Australia and New Zealand, and is expected to debut at No.1 in America, this weekend with consumption of around 125,000 units.

A distant second to Even In Arcadia, Short n’ Sweet (2-2, 11,201 sales), remains in runner-up position for Sabrina Carpenter. In the Top 5 for the 38th time in a row since its release last August, it has now spent 24 weeks at No.2, surpassing the all-time record for an artist album set by Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water between 1970 and 1972.

No.20 with her first mixtape, To Hell With It in 2021, and No.28 with her first studio album, Heaven Knows in 2023, 24-year-old singer/songwriter PinkPantheress, originally from Somerset, scorches to a Top 10 debut with her second mixtape, Fancy That (No.3, 11,126 sales).

Returning to the indie rock roots that earned their 2006 debut Inside In/Inside Out the No.2 slot in 2006, Brighton veterans The Kooks secure their eighth Top 75, fifth Top 10 album and their highest chart position since Konk became their only No.1 in 2008, with Never/Know (No.5, 7,516 sales). Formerly a quartet, they now consist only of founder members Luke Pritchard and Hugh Harris.

The rest of the Top 10: +-=÷× Tour Collection (3-4, 9,025 sales) by Ed Sheeran, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (4-6, 7,477 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, The Highlights (5-7, 6,390 sales) by The Weeknd, So Close To What (15-8, 5,614 sales) by Tate McRae, Brat (6-9, 5,600 sales) by Charli XCX and Diamonds (8-10, 5,520 sales) by Elton John. McRae’s album returns to the Top 10 after an absence of six weeks, increasing consumption 22.23% ahead of her UK tour, which starts in Birmingham on Monday (May 19).

None of their six previous No.1 albums dipped further than No.4 when ending their run at the top, but Pink Floyd