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AVERY LAIRD
Sleepwalker (Sleepwalker)
Add date: 10.20.2026
Release date: 10.13.2026
Links:
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Bandcamp
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Official Website
Spotify
Tidal
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Avery Laird is incapable of doing anything the easy way. Chalk it up to naïveté, delusion, or plain stupidity, this indie alt-country upstart’s debut album Sleepwalker is the blunt plea of someone desperate to finally learn their lesson; to wake up from the familiar ruminations and forge a different path. The first songs for Sleepwalker were written in early 2023, in the wake of a failed relationship and during a job that left Laird overwhelmed and unfulfilled. “I was always waiting for my life to start,” Laird explains, “and I needed to understand why I was so unsatisfied. I’m terrified of feeling like I wasted my life.” This contrasting desire to find peace through cynicism permeates the record, culminating in the midpoint ballad “Every Corner” and closing post-rock anthem “Figure It Out” with lines like “you’ve got a sneaking suspicion/of all the sun on your face.”
After finishing four initial songs in mid-2023, Laird enlisted the help of JUNO-nominee and friend Jon Savard (Alexisonfire, Broken Social Scene) to record, mix, and produce the record that became Sleepwalker. Completing the album was a slow patchwork process, bottlenecked by Laird’s songwriting process and demanding work schedule. Although based in Toronto, he had to move to Redmond, WA for several months in 2024; Laird wrote and recorded demos for “Lucky” and “Figure It Out” from his hotel room. Sleepwalker was finished late 2025, and singles like “Doomed” and “Lucky” are already early favourites with repeated airplay on KEXP, SiriusXM, and placements on big editorial playlists like Fresh Finds, Indie All Stars, and Folk & Friends.
Ultimately, Sleepwalker craves transformation: “I want that I/am thin as paper/to fold in your hands/smooth every corner again.” It is through a new form that old patterns are rewritten, and maybe some of our past mistakes avoided. Laird explores transformation not only through lyrics but genre as well, with the first four tracks sitting comfortably in folk-rock territory before a sharp turn to grunge and post-punk in the arresting outro of “Every Corner.” The remaining tracks slowly converge to a satisfying mix of 90’s grunge and modern alt-country, ending up at the perfectly bizarre “Figure It Out,” which is what you get if Black Country, New Road wrote the soundtrack for Birdman. When the dust settles, only one question remains: have you learned your lesson yet?
Photo Credit: Sabrina Carrizo Sztainbok
Apple Music
Bandcamp
Official Website
Spotify
Tidal
YouTube
Avery Laird is incapable of doing anything the easy way. Chalk it up to naïveté, delusion, or plain stupidity, this indie alt-country upstart’s debut album Sleepwalker is the blunt plea of someone desperate to finally learn their lesson; to wake up from the familiar ruminations and forge a different path. The first songs for Sleepwalker were written in early 2023, in the wake of a failed relationship and during a job that left Laird overwhelmed and unfulfilled. “I was always waiting for my life to start,” Laird explains, “and I needed to understand why I was so unsatisfied. I’m terrified of feeling like I wasted my life.” This contrasting desire to find peace through cynicism permeates the record, culminating in the midpoint ballad “Every Corner” and closing post-rock anthem “Figure It Out” with lines like “you’ve got a sneaking suspicion/of all the sun on your face.”
After finishing four initial songs in mid-2023, Laird enlisted the help of JUNO-nominee and friend Jon Savard (Alexisonfire, Broken Social Scene) to record, mix, and produce the record that became Sleepwalker. Completing the album was a slow patchwork process, bottlenecked by Laird’s songwriting process and demanding work schedule. Although based in Toronto, he had to move to Redmond, WA for several months in 2024; Laird wrote and recorded demos for “Lucky” and “Figure It Out” from his hotel room. Sleepwalker was finished late 2025, and singles like “Doomed” and “Lucky” are already early favourites with repeated airplay on KEXP, SiriusXM, and placements on big editorial playlists like Fresh Finds, Indie All Stars, and Folk & Friends.
Ultimately, Sleepwalker craves transformation: “I want that I/am thin as paper/to fold in your hands/smooth every corner again.” It is through a new form that old patterns are rewritten, and maybe some of our past mistakes avoided. Laird explores transformation not only through lyrics but genre as well, with the first four tracks sitting comfortably in folk-rock territory before a sharp turn to grunge and post-punk in the arresting outro of “Every Corner.” The remaining tracks slowly converge to a satisfying mix of 90’s grunge and modern alt-country, ending up at the perfectly bizarre “Figure It Out,” which is what you get if Black Country, New Road wrote the soundtrack for Birdman. When the dust settles, only one question remains: have you learned your lesson yet?
Photo Credit: Sabrina Carrizo Sztainbok