Why should you give „The Love You Want” a chance? It hasn’t been long since the newest single of Sleep Token ’The Love You Want’ has been released. Just like Alkaline it will be featured in the ’This Place Will Become Your Tomb’ album. Between the two songs there are similarities those typical ’Sleep Token characteristics’ like the vocal focus, the drums being a key part in the instrumental parts and the atmosphere boosting. Apart from these we get a different track which is not really suprising considering that Sleep Token never stucks with one style even inside one song we can find multiple styles. In Alkaline there was stronger sounding and harder riffs, while in The Love You Want there is a softer approach which can bother those who wanted something like Alkaline. We also shouldn’t forget that there were style changes like these in the past. This is especially true because Sleep Token currently is a rock collective in which progressive metal, metalcore and post-metal can pop-up occasionally but something is for sure: the breathtaking atmosphere! The recipe isn’t unknown and slowly becomes predictable but this isn’t an issue, there is always a new component or idea. Let’s see what makes The Love You Want special!
Almost immediately the vocal starts with Vessel’s distinctive voice. In the first verse apart from the clean vocal only the synthetizer gets a part, bringing the usual well-known atmosphere. The first chorus also builds on this but the vocal is more prominent and overpoers the synthetizer. The pop-music like opening ends and in its place comes the jazz inspired second verse. Also it comes with a pleasant drum and light piano. This part shows that how skillful the drummer is even if he is only in the background he has an important part both in Alkaline and The Love You Want. The second chorus is more lively that the first thanks to not only the vocal but the simultaneous clap. The tension can be felt! Before the bridge there is a shorter, calmer instrumental part so the peak can follow. The bridge itself is closer to djent: the guitars come alive, the drum dictates the speed while the clean and background vocal becomes more and more powerful and hurtful. In the end of the bridge we arrive at the outro where the electronic pop-rock style comes back giving a sort of frame to the song.
What could you love in The Love You Want? The atmosphere, the colorful music genres, the vocal. The calm or the unrestfulness. The unique and not overthought lyrics or the story and what is behind that. The video and every small detail of it. If you are looking for these the The Love You Want was made for You!
Genre: Progressive Rock
Band: Sleep Token (UK)
Song: The Love You Want
Album: This Place Will Become Your Tomb (2021)*
Lyrics:
You lie an inch apart on your own continuum Now keep the freakshow talk to a careful minimum I'll find a different harbour to lay my anchor in And you'll find a different way to keep from setting sail again, no But I'm still full of the love you want Still waking up beneath it all And I'm still full of the love you want I reach for you on faith alone Seems your heart is locked up and I still get the combination wrong Or are you simply waiting to save your love for someone I am not? Too many swallowed keys will make you bleed internally someday Oh, oh, oh, oh Maybe you believe that in the end you will be better off that way Oh, oh, oh, oh And I'm still full of the love you want Still waking up beneath it all And I'm still full of the love you want I reach for you on faith alone And I'm still full of the love you want Still waking up so alone And I'll be full of the love you want No matter what, forevermore And I'm still full of the love you want And I'm still full of the love you want And I'm still full of the love you want The love you want, the love you want, the love you want And I'm still full of the love you want And I'm still full of the love you want And I'm still full of the love you want The love you want, the love you want, the love you want You lie an inch apart on your own continuum Now keep the freakshow talk to a careful minimum
Possible interpretation of the lyrics: There is a peculiar wording in this track which features immersive tropes. Just like in Alkaline they use the same less is more formula and we get a compact but well-thought thread instead of an unnecessarly long lyrics. The theme hasn’t changed, we live through an aspect of a love-story. The videoclip which happens to be really cool, helps us in understanding the lyrics. It’s spectacular from the beginning to the end. The choreography is great and fits prefectly with the mood, it slows or becomes intense where the song demand it to. It emphasises The Love You Want in a flawless way.
What can we understand from the video and the lyrics? Let’s have a screen by screen, line by line look!
Where does the videoclip take place?
It’s hard to give an exact answer but the most possible one is: inside Vessel’s heart. How can we come to this conclusion? Firstly the main color of the surroundings is red, also the sang story which is about heartbreaking love give us plenty of evidence. There are many more detailes (white ribbons, Vessel stabbing himself in the heart) which add to this theory, they will be analyzed later!
” I’ll find a different harbour to lay my anchor in
And you’ll find a different way to keep from setting sail again, no”
Our start is the main character played by Vessel who founds himself in an excruciating situation. His deep feelings remain unanswered, having his heart get broken again and again. He tried to break the cycle to no avail, the love always surfaced in him. In the beginning of the clip he again tries the impossible to get over his feelings and as we see in the end he fails and can never get to a new love (a new port).
In the first chorus we can see Vessel who is working on to map out his heart in order to find what is that he truly feels. He comes to the conclusion that the flame hasn’t been blown out completely it still lingers there. This is what the refrain tells us: „And I’m still full of the love you want.” There are feelings which cannot fade away easily, this is what Sleep Token wants to tell us.
“Seems your heart is locked up and I still get the combination wrong
Or are you simply waiting to save your love for someone I am not?”
After the unsuccessful tries we ask ourselves: what do we do wrong? Maybe we need a new approach. Maybe we fight for someone who can’t acknowledge our feelings and doesn’t see us as the „One”. In these cases it is not a simple task to move one but it’s better to not get stuck in the past! This is how Vessel feels and this is how he acts in the bridge when he tries to cut the chains of the past and away from the girl. In the choreography (apart from the girl in the middle) represent everything that connect him to this love, to her. But it doesn’t matter how strong Vessel is (as we can see in Alkaline) there are things that are stronger than him: his feelings. The love that can’t die overpowers him and he finds himself where he started in the beginning. He attends to his wounds with white ribbons so he start the never ending cycle again.
What should you know about Sleep Token? Sleep Token is a british band who hides the identity of their members. It’s hard to identify what music genre do they belong to because they feature multiple genres in their songs. Post-rock, progressive metal, progressive rock, post-metal, indie rock and alternative rock all get a place in their work, complementing it with mostly indie pop vocal but also with stronger vocalizting sometimes. They released one album (Sundowning – 2019) and two EPs (One – 2016; Two – 2017). Their second album (This Place Will Become Your Tomb) will be released in this September.
Sleep Token’s members are still not known to this day. We only know about the singer Vessel who can be seen in the picture below in his mask and unifrom in the new videoclip.
Sleep Token: https://www.sleep-token.com/
*This Place Will Become Your Tomb out September 24th.
by: Wolfy & Shadow
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