In many respects, Caleb J. Murphy is a coming-of-age late bloomer, and it appears in his story-driven, lyric-focused, and often nostalgic songs. It wasn’t until his late 20s that Murphy started to find independence from his Evangelical Christian upbringing and his Middle Child Syndrome. 

This upbringing led to a habit of ignoring problems and emotions, two things that will not go away simply by averting your eyes. So as Murphy started writing the songs for his new album Sleeperland, he noticed they all kept telling him something...

"Wake up, man."

Murphy ended up with 10 songs that helped him wake up to his own life. He finally started to realize what he really wanted and what actually mattered to him. This is evident in a lyric from the title track: “life won't stand in line for you / time is dripping through the stars / now you gotta wake up…please wake me up from this sleeperland.”

He decided to release each song as a single, about 4-6 weeks apart. This process of producing and releasing one song at a time allowed him to focus on getting each song just right without splitting his attention among multiple songs. It was also smart from a marketing sense because he could give each song its time in the spotlight. And now, he's still able to give album-lovers something to enjoy.  

Murphy recorded and mixed the songs in the corner of the living room of his one-bedroom apartment in Austin, TX, where he was living at the time. He worked remotely with musicians, a singer, and a mastering engineer to complete this album.

Sleeperland will be available on all streaming platforms September 1, 2023.

All songs written, produced, and mixed by Caleb J. Murphy

Backing vocals by Emily Versace on "Bless These Heavy Arms"

Backing vocals engineered by Dom Versace on "Bless These Heavy Arms"

Clarinets performed by Dima Faustov on "Home Goes With You"

Cellos performed by Ben Ko on "Home Goes With You"

All songs mastered by John Behrens at Farmland Studios

Album cover designed by David Altrogge

Individual song artwork created with the AI platform DALL-E (view them below)