We Speak Rock

Sleepwalk Share “Shell” as View From The Outside Arrives November 13

Published

5 days ago

November 11, 2026

Sleepwalk performing live in Los Angeles. Photo by Kevin Allen

Chicago four piece Sleepwalk are looking inward on their newest single. “Shell” confronts insecurity, social anxiety and emotional withdrawal, and it is the latest glimpse of the band’s fourth album View From The Outside, due out November 13 via MNRK Heavy, with a fall tour beginning this November.

Chicago-based band Sleepwalk today have shared their new single “Shell,” the latest glimpse into their upcoming LP View From The Outside, due out November 13th via MNRK Heavy. Exploring themes of insecurity, social anxiety and emotional withdrawal, the track captures the tension between craving connection and struggling with the discomfort of being around others.

“‘Shell’ is about how I’ve sort of closed off as I’ve gotten older. Discomfort being around people even though I do want to be around people. Insecurity, social anxiety, emotional distance, etc. Typical sad boi bullshit,” Ryan Davis (vocals/guitar) explains.

Formed in 2015, Sleepwalk bring together Davis, drummer Marcus Johnson, bassist Vic Ordonez and guitarist Tyler Gargula. Rooted in the Chicago rock scene, the four-piece draw from shoegaze, ’90s alternative rock and post-hardcore, balancing expansive guitar work with introspective songwriting. Their music has earned comparisons to acts such as Hum, Failure and Quicksand, while their live history includes performances alongside Glassjaw, Thursday and Nothing.

The band’s latest single finds Davis turning his attention inward, confronting the fears and uncertainties that can make connection feel increasingly out of reach. Its lyrics move through distorted self-perception and the unsettling feeling of being mentally stuck, questioning whether it’s possible to return to a version of oneself that felt less isolated. Rather than offering easy answers, “Shell” sits with the discomfort of that uncertainty, capturing the struggle to understand one’s own emotional distance.

“Shell” is out now. View From The Outside is November 13th via MNRK Heavy.

Sleepwalk – Live Dates
11/12 – Chicago, IL – Sleeping Village
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

Sleepwalk – Bio:
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.

An avalanche of both atmosphere and adrenaline, View From The Outside decorates Davis’s wistful, semi-detached vocals with slabs of chiming guitars and battering beats in the spirit of fellow Chicagoans Smashing Pumpkins. The album 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.

“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

EMPATH, Built From Volbeat, Rising And Anti-Ritual Members, Drop Their Self-Titled Debut Album

Published

17 hours ago

November 14, 2026

We Speak Media

EMPATH's four members in a black and white portrait against a dark background

Copenhagen has a new heavy rock band with serious pedigree. EMPATH, formed by members of Volbeat, Rising and Anti-Ritual, have released their self-titled debut album today, November 13th, on Indisciplinarian — a dark and dreamy take on heavy rock built on atmosphere, melody and crushing dynamics.

EMPATH is the sound of a new, dark and dreamy heavy rock band from Copenhagen, Denmark — one that revolves around atmosphere, presence and empathy. The constellation may be new, but the four members carry solid experience from bands such as Volbeat, Rising and Anti-Ritual.

In a digital and efficiency-driven age, where humanity is increasingly giving way to mechanical coldness, EMPATH — as the name suggests — is about presence, empathy and humanity. This ethos runs like a common thread through the band’s self-titled debut album, released today, November 13th, 2026, on LP, CD, cassette and digital formats via Indisciplinarian.

Across nine songs, EMPATH blends elements of progressive metal, doom, sludge and post-rock into a sound that is as dreamy and melodic as it is heavy and riff-driven. The music was recorded live with producer Lasse Ballade (Halshug, Slægt, Eyes) at Ballade Studios in Copenhagen, with vocals tracked at Grapehouse Studios by Morten Grønnegaard. Ballade also handled mix and mastering, while the artwork was created by illustrator Jon Gotlev (Nohr).

The album was first introduced by the single “Waves,” followed by “Vessel,” both pointing toward the band’s balance of melodic clarity and dense, riff-driven weight. EMPATH plays its debut show on December 11th at Hotel Cecil in Copenhagen.

EMPATH Track Listing

1. In Absence
2. Waves
3. Vessel
4. In Formation
5. In Bloom
6. In Thought
7. In Dissent
8. In Memory
9. In Return

Before forming EMPATH, guitarist/vocalist Morten Grønnegaard played with Volbeat on the albums Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies and Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie. Bassist Christian Qvortrup played in the epic doom metal band Rising, while drummer Jakob Krogholt toured and recorded with Anti-Ritual.