I don't need my favourite artist to be political

Sleep Token are rising without saying a word - and it might be the best way to go

Sleep Token have just hit number 10 in the UK charts — a huge feat for any band, but for a metal band? Practically unheard of. The masked collective’s latest single ‘Caramel’, off their upcoming album Even in Arcadia, has landed them firmly in the mainstream — but the irony isn’t lost.

‘Caramel’ is a brooding reflection off their meteoric rise and the growing pains that come with fame. It’s a song about the weight of being seen and the more famous they get, the harder it is to protect the mystery that made them famous in the first place.

"Every time they try to shout my real name just to get a rise from me / Acting like I'm never stressed out by the hearsay / I guess that's what I get for tryna hide in the limelight,” cries Vessel.

Yet, despite the mounting attention and inevitable push into the public eye, Sleep Token’s decision to stay hidden is the thing they continue to get right.

In a world where we constantly want to give everyone our opinion, and feel entitled to hear everyone else’s, we now expect the same from artists. But Sleep Token’s refusal to do this, right from the start, feels both refreshing and I would argue, better for the listener.

The band avoids the obligation to explain themselves. There’s no interviews, no social commentary, no “statement from the band.” They’ve managed to build a global fanbase without a press strategy, and sold out arenas without so much as a Q&A. That silence protects them — and us. It keeps their music what it’s meant to be: pure escapism.

But more than that, being unknown means they avoid the pressure of facing backlash if they were to voice their opinion on anything outside of their music. We now want artists to act like public figures: to tweet, to speak up and to share every part of themselves. And that’s where we’re losing some of the enjoyment.

This pressure on artists to vocalise everything — whether related to their work or not — has become increasingly common. Even pop artists can’t escape the demand from the public to speak out. In a recent article, while it recognised that pop has traditionally been a form of escapism, the Telegraph questioned why artists of the younger generation ‘have nothing to say’.

Well, I for one am not asking them to. I don’t care if my favourite artist is political, I just don’t need them to be.

Thanks to social media and our ability to follow our favourite artists’ every move, we’re now too connected to just scroll past their views and ignore their opinions once they start sharing them. But after that happens, something changes. You can’t avoid judging or interpreting everything they say, and as a result, how you listen to their art becomes something else entirely.

Don’t get me wrong, I get a little thrill when someone onstage yells “Fuck the Tories!” or declares “Protect gay rights!” I loved that Olivia Rodrigo handed out contraception at her shows and Stormzy’s Brits performance in 2018 ,with a scathing call-out to then-PM Theresa May over Grenfell, was one of the best performances of the decade.

But the problem starts when we expect that same level of political outspokenness of every artist — even when it’s not ingrained in their work. With someone like Stormzy, the politics were always part of who he was, it was where he came from. If you were a fan, you already knew what you were signing up for. When we ask the same of everyone, it starts to bleed into who they are as a musician even if they’re making three-minute pop tracks about sex.

And the unfortunate thing is it’s very often a lose-lose situation. While not music-related, we can take Rachel Zegler, the star of Snow White as an example. She did what every young actor is now expected to do: speak up and use her platform. But instead of being celebrated, she became a target — labelled ungrateful, difficult. And the same thing applies to musicians.

Because the truth no one really wants to admit? We say we want artists to be outspoken and politically engaged, but we really only mean it when their views match ours. More often than not, we simply resent them when their opinions don’t line up with our own.

Artists have always been a force for change. And often, that is the point — to reflect the world around us and to challenge it. But sometimes escaping that matters too. Sometimes all we want is a song to get lost in without another layer of controversy dragging us back to reality.

Vessel might not have the luxury of disappearing from the stage when 20,000 fans are screaming his name. But at least he doesn’t have to tell those 20,000 people who he voted for.

What do you think? Do you agree? Let me know in the comments or vote below!