Chicago dream-pop rockers Sleepwalk return with View From The Outside, their fourth album and first for MNRK Heavy, out today. A shoegaze and post-hardcore record recorded at Hum’s Matt Talbott studio, it is led by new single “In Flames” and a run of U.S. tour dates starting November 18 in Philadelphia.

Chicago-based band Sleepwalk today have released their new LP View From The Outside via MNRK Heavy, alongside their new single “In Flames.” Recorded at Matt Talbot’s (Hum) studio in Tolono, IL, the band’s fourth album finds themselves refining their blend of shoegaze, 90s alternative rock, and post-hardcore. An avalanche of both atmosphere and adrenaline, the LP decorates Davis’s (vocals/guiar) wistful, semi-detached vocals with slabs of chiming guitars and battering beats in the spirit of fellow Chicagoans Smashing Pumpkins.

Album singles “Jan 22,” “Sandbox,” and “Shell” have earned praise and support from the Chicago Reader, Get Some Mag, Northern Transmissions, Distorted Sound, Vanyaland, Magnet, SPILL, Release Wave, Pop Dust, and more. The band will also embark on a U.S. tour, including dates at Brooklyn’s The Wood Shop (11/19), LA’s El Cid (12/10), and more.

View From The Outside is a journey of dramatic dynamics and nuanced moods; sepia-toned yet never wallowing, adventurous but steeped in pop structures and sensibilities. Laying deeply personal introspections bare in ways that are singable and soothing, Sleepwalk are like The Cure if they’d evolved out of American hardcore rather than from British new wave.

Exploring themes of defiance, hypocrisy and disillusionment, “In Flames” confronts the frustrations of navigating fear and intolerance, pairing a verse progression that ducks and dives with an anguished chorus and serrated bass breakdown. “In Flames” finds Davis confronting the hypocrisy of those who use faith as a justification for intolerance, rejecting the empty reassurances of those who inflict harm.

“It’s kind of dealing with my frustrations with the Christian right. How people can express such bigotry but then be, like ‘I’m praying for you.’ It’s like, fuck you!” Ryan Davis says of the track.

Formed in 2015, Sleepwalk bring together Davis, drummer Marcus Johnson, bassist Vic Ordonez and guitarist Tyler Gargula. Their music has earned comparisons to acts such as Hum, Failure and Quicksand, while their live history includes performances alongside Glassjaw, Thursday and Nothing.

View From The Outside is out now via MNRK Heavy.

Sleepwalk Live Dates

11/18 Philadelphia, PA – Ortlieb
11/19 Brooklyn, NY – The Wood Shop
12/3 – Denton, TX – Rubber Gloves
12/4 – Austin, TX – Bushy Street Commons
12/5 – San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger (Side Room)
12/9 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
12/10 – Los Angeles, CA – El Cid (Early Show)
12/11 – San Francisco, CA – Neck Of The Woods

About Sleepwalk

On cathartic fourth album View From The Outside, Sleepwalk take another step from their nu-gaze beginnings towards progressive yet hugely relatable post-hardcore. Five years since their last full-length and with a radically retooled line-up, the Chicago foursome has elevated its “heavy music for the lighthearted” signature with an expanded sonic palette and more cultured creative process.

“The newer stuff dips into sub-genres that weren’t explored in the same way before,” said guitarist Tyler Gargula. “There’s dreamy things that weren’t as intricate; more rocky things that are now very clearly rock focused; and even trip-hop on the album’s closing track.”

Formed in 2015, Sleepwalk built their rep on seamlessly melding the visceral and cerebral. Lush, fuzzy guitars and thoughtful, reflective vocals propelled by hardcore-inflected beats earned comparisons to the likes of Failure, Hum, and Quicksand across a string of increasingly well-received singles, EPs, and albums. The Deli declared Sleepwalk’s third full-length Underneath The Shade “one of the strongest albums of the year,” while Stereogum declared their 2024 Out Of Focus EP “phenomenal.”

Shows with fellow forward-thinkers like Glassjaw, Thursday, and Nothing spread the word among listeners seeking rock music that challenges tradition while remaining authentic and accessible. Gargula joined founding guitarist/vocalist Ryan Davis in Sleepwalk in 2023, with longtime friends Marcus Johnson (drums) and Vic Ordonez (bass) solidifying the new lineup two years later. “The chemistry is something I’ve never really felt before in terms of writing, playing shows, and overall collaboration,” offered Johnson. “I’ve known the guys for a long time, so it just makes sense.” In the summer of 2025, Sleepwalk further cemented their next chapter by signing with MNRK Music Group.

“The title View From The Outside is kind of the overall ethos of the band,” Davis explained. “I feel like if people had a true, deep understanding of how miniscule we actually are and saw a much bigger picture … our behaviors would improve.”

View From The Outside was tracked over twelve days at Earth Analog in Tolono, Illinois – the studio of Matt Talbott, guitarist/vocalist of one of Sleepwalk’s major influences, Hum. The band once again worked with Zac Montez (Whirr, Cloakroom), a producer known for textured atmospherics who also helmed their Underneath The Shade album. Montez’s love of electronic music enhances View From The Outside as an unusually three-dimensional aural and emotional experience. “The [newer] compositions are definitely more thought out,” mulled Davis, the band’s principal songwriter and lyricist. “A good balance of gloominess, hooks, and raw emotions.”

The album is introduced by first single and video “Sandbox,” an apt bridge between the old and new Sleepwalk and emblematic of View From The Outside, its clean-guitar verses succumbing to hefty, saturated hooks, with screamed backups from Gargula.

The lyrics to vibey follow-up “Jan 22” were written by Davis on a snowy walk home from band practice. “It’s kind of a love letter to wintertime in the city,” he said. “Just observing my surroundings, because I’m one of the odd people out here that actually really likes winter.” Embroidered with evocative synth and twinkling guitar, “Jan 22” is also an empowering metaphor for weathering dark times.

View From The Outside roughly (if unintentionally) divides into two halves: the first opaquely political and more reflective of the band members’ collective hardcore backgrounds; the second more personal, experimental, and perhaps hinting at their future.

Third single “Shell” epitomizes Sleepwalk’s vulnerable, confessional side, its robust riffs and snaking leads framing Davis’s struggle with introversion. “It’s about the frustration of how I’ve closed off as I get older … like I’m in a shell,” he said. “And hoping one day to break out of that.”

Released to coincide with the album drop, “In Flames” is destined to be a stage standout, it’s ducking ‘n diving verse progression setting up a chorus aching with anguish and a serrated bass breakdown. “It’s kind of dealing with my frustrations with the Christian right,” said Davis. “How people can express such bigotry but then be, like ‘I’m praying for you.’ It’s like, fuck you!”

Sleepwalk will support View From The Outside with North American and European touring. “There’s a lot of adrenaline going but we definitely lock into a groove,” said Johnson of the band’s famously frenetic and emotive live shows. “We like to make people headbang but also to give them a chance to hear everything and let the music breathe.”

“I hope that listeners get a sense of belonging or community, and the catharsis of letting out a little bit of aggression with some of the songs,” Davis concluded. “But also, with the somewhat uplifting stuff like ‘Jan 22,’ getting a really overwhelming emotional response.”

View From The Outside Track Listing

1. Point Break
2. Sandbox
3. In Flames
4. Suckerfish
5. Jan 22
6. The Lighthouse
7. Cold Front
8. Shell
9. Dreamlessness
10. Pushback

Read Next

FUCKED UP Close the Zodiac Cycle With Year Of The Rooster, Out Now on Tankcrimes
TEMPLE OF BONES Release Debut Walk The Winds on Relapse Records
WRAITH Unleash Sixth Album Descent Into Darkness

More from We Speak Media

Murderdolls Reunite for 25th Anniversary Shows at Download and Graspop in Tribute to Joey Jordison and Ben GravesDecibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest Returns to the Fillmore Auditorium December 4 and 5Motionless in White Brings The Sweat and Blood Tour to Prudential Center on November 19ASSUMPTION Stream Paradox Of The Arrow In Full Ahead Of Friday Release On 20 Buck SpinProject Hail Mary: Journey Among the Stars Is Out Now on Quest, PICO and Android XRWorst Class Ever Is Out Now on Steam, Turning Classroom Mischief Into 1v7 MayhemEternal Palace Sakura Launches on Steam and Nintendo Switch With Cherry-Blossom Roguelite ActionBenedict Rallies From 24 Points Down to Beat Kentucky State 52-45 in Overtime and Win the SIAC Championship