Lacuna Coil Reveals New Album Sleepless Empire, First Single “Oxygen” Streaming Now
It’s still a bit early to be thinking about Valentine’s Day, but if you’re looking for that special something for your special someone and they like Italian metal bands, then you’re in luck. Lacuna Coil announced 10th studio album Sleepless Empire will be out on February 14, 2025.
Boasting 11 new songs, some of which including guest features by Lamb of God‘s Randy Blythe and New Years Day’s Ash Costello, the album is the band’s follow up to 2019’s Black Anima. To mark the occasion, the band released the forthcoming release’s first single “Oxygen.”
Looking forward to the album’s release, vocalist Christina Scabbia said “Oxygen” and its accompanying music video were a more introspective song by nature.
“‘Oxygen’ is a powerful exploration of emotional struggle and inner conflict. The lyrics convey a sense of drowning in a toxic environment, both literally (in the video) and metaphorically, where attempts at salvation, represented by ‘oxygen’ are somehow futile.
“This song encapsulates the feeling of struggling to break free from what holds us down, when the journey is filled with difficulty. It’s a raw anthem of vulnerability, resilience, and the courage to face what seems insurmountable. Having to stay in the water for so many hours during the video shoot was cathartic for me, the realisation that the pleasant sensation of floating could in an instant become dangerous and deadly if I wasn’t careful was very fitting with the song’s theme.”
According to the band, they were inspired to begin work on Sleepless Empire while working on Comalies XX.
“Sleepless Empire captures, through our eyes, the chaos of a generation trapped in a digital world that never stops, where social media consumes identity and every day pushes us one step closer to becoming soulless zombies. We find ourselves in between, having witnessed a full analogic world and the modern one, confronting the evolution and searching for a true meaning of it all. Throughout every song, the journey is an undercurrent of rebellion, a desperate cry to reclaim oneself in an era that seems to have lost its sense of time and reality.”
When released, the album will come in a number of different formats, but perhaps the most interesting version is the box set, which comes with an oracle “game” along with custom dice. I don’t know what that means, per se, but that sounds cool.
Sleepless Empire will be released on February 14, but you can preorder your copy today. Lacuna Coil also have some live dates coming up. You can find those below.
Sleepless Empire track-listing
1. The Siege
2. Oxygen
3. Scarecrow
4. Gravity
5. I Wish You Were Dead
6. Hosting The Shadow (feat. Randy Blythe)
7. In Nomine Patris
8. Sleepless Empire
9. Sleep Paralysis
10. In The Mean Time (feat. Ash Costello)
11. Never Dawn
Lacuna Coil tour dates
w/ Blind Channel
October 12, 2024 – Lyon, France – Le Transbordeur Club
October 15, 2024 – Belfast, Ireland – Limelight
October 16, 2024 – Dublin, Ireland – Academy
October 18, 2024 – Bournemouth, UK – O2 Academy
October 20, 2024 – Manchester, UK – Academy
October 21, 2024 – Glasgow, Scotland – SWG3
October 22, 2024 – Wolverhampton, UK – KK’S Steel Mill
October 24, 2024 – Nottingham, UK – Rock City
October 25, 2024 – London, UK – Roundhouse
October 26, 2024 – Bristol, UK – O2 Academy
Lacuna Coil tour dates
June 6-8, 2025 – Metal Fest OpenAir – Czech Republic
August 8, 2025 – Bloodstock Festival – England
August 9-10, 2025 – M’era Luna Festival – Germany
