Sleep Token recently got announced as one of the three headliners for Download 2025 taking place next June. Download boss Andy Copping spoke extensively about the choice to have Sleep Token headline alongside Korn and Green Day in an interview with NME, though he also slipped in one interesting piece of information at the end – new Sleep Token in 2025.
"Very tough question, but it's going to be Sleep Token. To see them headlining a major festival for the first time is so exciting for me. We're already on album number three and album number four should be out by the time Download comes around. It's going to be a meteoric rise for them across the globe, not just the UK. I think that they'll just do something super special there and smash it."
Given the popularity of Sleep Token's 2023 album Take Me Back To Eden – even just the sheer size of the single "The Summoning" along – it's probably safe to assume the next record is gonna be a behemoth. Given Download 2025 is happening next June, and assuming Sleep Token's next record is actually out by then, it seems safe to assume new music will probably start surfacing early next year.
On the decision to book Sleep Token as the headliners for Download 2025, Coping said it was basically a no-brainer. "It was seeing their meteoric rise over the last two years that made me think, 'This is a band that deserves to be elevated'. They've got a sold-out arena tour in a couple of weeks which we already know will be a sight to behold."
He continued: "I think it's important for the festival to bring new bands through to headline. Back in the day, I did it with Slipknot. I did it with Avenged Sevenfold and Biffy Clyro. In 2023 we did it with Bring Me The Horizon. Now, every one of those bands across the world is perceived as a festival headliner."
"That's what I felt this time with Sleep Token. It feels like we're the first major festival that's taken the bull by the horns and gone, 'OK, it's time. Its Sleep Token's moment'. I know it's going to be amazing for them, amazing for the festival and amazing for the fans."
