One of emo’s most successful bands, Sleeping With Sirens hit the comeback trail hard on the title track from their best album in a decade, ‘An Ending In Itself.’

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Stream: “An Ending In Itself” – Sleeping With Sirens

For how much emo enjoys a revival, once a beloved band falls from grace, to reach redemption, they must go through hell.

To be fair, unlike some other disciples, Sleeping With Sirens never betrayed the scene. Even when emo’s mall era officially foreclosed with, ironically, Fall Out Boy’s Save Rock and Roll, these young Florida men kept their bangs swooped and necklines deep. The band never stopped releasing albums at a reliable pace, either. It was only the end results that were decidedly mixed. When they jumped into bed with Warner Bros for 2017’s scandalous Gossip, loyal fans were understandably shaken in their faith.

So it brings me great joy that the rumors surrounding An Ending In Itself are, in fact, true. Sleeping With Sirens just dropped their best album since the band was originally signed to Rise Records. By reopening one door and closing another, the title track puts them firmly on the comeback trail.

It’s hard not to give up
when you’ve got everything to lose
You make believe, no eyes can see,
but I can see through you
So when it all comes falling
and there’s nothing you can do
Don’t give up, don’t give up,
don’t let it bury you
Don’t let it bury you
So when it all comes
falling down, don’t let it bury you

Before they could reach this point, Sleeping With Sirens had to rediscover their spark. Despite being delayed by COVID, touring behind the tin anniversary of Let’s Cheers to This, which is now certified gold, reminded them why the band became the toast of the scene in the first place. The new album doesn’t dump out the bubbly hooks and meaty chugs that are so pleasing to rock radio’s unadventurous palette, but “An Ending In Itself” belongs on the rack with SWS’ 2010s vintage. I promise to cut my overindulgent metaphor off after this paragraph, so forgive me for saying this, but damn it, Kellin Quinn really has aged like a fine wine. “I stayed when it came and went.” His squeaky cleans are still sweet on the ears, though it’s nice to hear him screaming again over a full-bodied breakdown.

I get lost every now and then
I understand what you’re feeling,
it’s all in, it’s all in your head
I stayed when it came and went
It’s something I’ve been dealing with,
playing, just playing pretend
I swear it ends, I’ve fallen, it’s all in
It’s all in your head

Now, having said that, you can’t accuse Sleeping With Sirens of getting drunk off their own nostalgia.

That’s the last one, I promise. As was trendy at the time, the band’s first studio efforts jabbed at cheating exes and bitter rivals, but An Ending In Itself completes the maturation arc that they’ve been developing across their last two. Honestly, I haven’t listened to either, but going off the titles, if those albums were about finding a way out of the emotional rubble when your world collapses, then this is where light appears through cracks at the end of the tunnel. “But can we stop pretending / that it’s all good?” Helping take that first step is newest member Tony Pizzuti, who lays down leads that burn like embers from the ashes.

But can we stop pretending
that it’s all so good?
Can we say what’s real?
Say how you feel, yeah, I wish you would
‘Cause there’s a happy ending,
but it’ll change with time
But for now it’s fine

“This song is a love letter to anyone in the midst of struggle,” Quinn shared upon the song’s release earlier this year. “I think we live in an age where we’re supposed to pretend like we have it ‘all together all of the time’ so much so that we’re afraid to let anyone in. I think it’s important to have open dialogue and to ask for help when we need it. This song is about being brave enough to admit that we’re not always okay. No matter what you’re going through, there is hope.”

I’ll admit; “An Ending In Itself” would’ve stayed buried in my inbox if it wasn’t attached to a certain producer. Before he won a Grammy, Will Yip was already celebrated for shaping so many albums that restored emo’s credibility following its commercial decline. Critics like me will rush to defend the likes of Citizen (justice for Everybody Is Going To Heaven) and The Wonder Years (okay; the WWE performance was bad), but I shouldn’t need Yip’s stamp of approval to not treat Sleeping With Sirens as a guilty pleasure.

Case in point: During a recent trip to where else but the mall, along with An Ending In Itself, I bought a new Pig Destroyer CD. Even though I already own a copy of Terrorizer, I needed the cashier to regard me as an adult with taste. Clearly, I’m the one who needs to stop pretending. When Quinn hits the high notes during the closing sprint of “An Ending In Itself,” everybody with ears will see that Sleeping With Sirens can hang with anyone.

An Ending In Itself is out now on Rise Records.

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Stream: “An Ending In Itself” – Sleeping With Sirens

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