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, 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, incidentally, 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’s At Pompeii: MCMLXXII dives 1-64 (2,344 sales) this week.
Also exiting the Top 10: You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1) (9-12, 5,065 sales) by Alex Warren, Hit Me Hard And Soft (7-13, 5,036 sales) by Billie Eilish and The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess (10-15, 4,804 sales) by Chappell Roan.
Four of six previous albums by Canadian band Arcade Fire reached No.1 – including the most recent release, We, in 2022 – and five made the Top 10. But their seventh studio set, Pink Elephant, debuts at No.18 (4,542 sales), making the smallest impression for the band since their 2004 debut, Funeral, reached No.33. In addition to their full-length studio albums, they reached No.39 with an eponymous EP and No.5 with soundtrack set Her, alongside Owen Pallett.
Also new to the Top 75: 21st Century Fiction (No.26, 3,804 sales), the fourth studio album by Berkshire rock band The Amazons, and the first not to reach the Top 10; Tall Tales (No.43, 3,207 sales), an experimental collaboration between 54-year-old Mark Pritchard and 56-year-old Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke, delivering Prichard’s first chart entry, and Yorke’s 22nd (including 15 with Radiohead, and three with The Smile); and Sincerely (No.53, 2,767 sales), the fifth album and third chart entry for American singer Kali Uchis.
Following the release of an expanded Complete Edition on CD and vinyl, The Weeknd’s latest album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, rallies 110-25 (3,993 sales). That’s the highest position for 11 weeks for the album, which debuted at No.1, 14 weeks ago, and coincides with the release of his movie of the same name. The promotional activity surrounding it also spurs Timeless – a Playboi Carti collaboration which reached No.7 last October – to re-enter the singles chart at No.30 (13,308 sales).
Only 74 sales separate the Top 3 on the compilation chart, with Eurovision Song Contest: Basel 2025 rising 9-3 (2,508 sales), Hamilton holding at No.2 (2,538 sales) and The Motion Picture Cast Recording of The Greatest Showman remaining at No.1 (2,580 sales).
Overall album sales are up 3.69% week-on-week at 2,607,414 units, 7.44% above same week 2024 sales of 2,426,756. Physical product accounts for 223,095 sales, 8.56% of the total.
