Jessie Altman’s 'Sleepwalking' EP Feels Like Waking Up From a Beautiful Lie You Almost Wanted to Stay In

There are two kinds of singer-songwriter releases in 2026. The algorithm-friendly background noise you forget five minutes later, and the rare projects that actually feel like someone is saying something real. Jessie Altman’s new EP Sleepwalking lands firmly in the second category.

Across four tightly crafted songs, Altman leans into a theme that feels painfully relevant right now. The idea that many people are drifting through life on autopilot, stuck somewhere between comfort and truth. It is a concept record without sounding pretentious.

The title track “Sleepwalking” sets the tone immediately. Altman’s voice carries a cinematic softness that floats over the arrangement, but beneath it lies tension. The songwriting captures that strange emotional fog when you start realizing something in your life is no longer quite real.

Producer Jason Lehning keeps everything warm and expansive, but does not drown the vulnerability in polish. The instrumentation is spacious, letting Altman’s vocals do the heavy lifting. The mix gives every lyric room to breathe.

“Mirror Mirror” and “Trick of the Light” push deeper into the EP’s central theme. Both tracks explore the blurry space between perception and reality. Social media thrives on curated illusions. Hearing a songwriter question what we choose to believe versus what actually exists hits differently now.

Then there is “Hypnotic,” which might be the EP’s most addictive track. Instead of breaking the illusion, it dives into it. The song explores the intoxicating pull of losing yourself in someone else’s gravity. Altman delivers it with calm confidence, making the emotional spiral feel almost beautiful.

Vocally, she operates in that sweet spot between vulnerability and control. Her tone never oversells the emotion, which ironically makes the impact stronger. You believe what she is saying because it sounds like she has lived inside these thoughts.

What makes Sleepwalking work is its honesty. In a world obsessed with distraction, Jessie Altman is writing about what happens when you stop drifting and actually pay attention.

That realization can be uncomfortable. But that is usually when the real story begins.

The EP circles around illusion versus awakening. Do you think people naturally prefer comforting illusions over the uncomfortable truth?

I think illusion can sometimes protect us and help us survive difficult moments. That being said, there’s always a moment when the illusion starts to crack, and you have to face reality. The tension between the comfort of a dream and the courage it takes to wake up is something I kept coming back to. Your songs feel introspective without becoming overly dramatic. How do you decide when emotional honesty crosses into melodrama?

When I write, I try to be as honest as I can be. And when something is honest, those feelings don’t need to be exaggerated. I’m always trying to write from a place that feels

true rather than performative, and sometimes that also means leaving space for the

listener to bring their own feelings and experiences into the song.

You worked with Grammy-winning producer Jason Lehning on this project. Was there a moment in the studio where the production completely changed how a song felt?

Jason is really fun to work with because he’s so collaborative. He creates an environment where people feel free to explore and experiment. For this EP, we had a pretty clear vision early on. Jason and I decided to bring in Ruslan Odnoralov to help build the track that we could then build the rest of the production around. We worked with Ruslan before on the remix for my song For You, and I’ve been a fan of his work for a long time. Spending a few days in the studio with Ruslan and Jason building the foundation of these songs was really special.

“Hypnotic” leans into emotional surrender while the other tracks question reality. Was that contrast intentional, or did it reveal something about how relationships actually work?

It’s one of the reasons I wanted to end the EP with Hypnotic. In a way, it signals the end of a chapter. You’ve lived life on autopilot, questioned the allure of illusion, and maybe even seen someone through rose-colored lenses. By the end of the record, you’re starting to come out of the fog. Hypnotic is about that moment where logic fades, and you surrender to the experience. You could argue it’s another form of illusion - just one that’s a little more intoxicating.

You have moved between the worlds of music, fashion, and live performance. Do those environments shape your songwriting, or do you deliberately protect your music from outside influence?

Those environments definitely shape my songwriting. I love finding inspiration in different forms of art and fashion. At the same time, songwriting itself is still very personal. Most of my songs start in a quiet moment. Later on, fashion and visuals help build the world around the music.