Sleep return with ‘Have Spacesuit Will Travel,’ their first new music in 8 years without Matt Pike, plus a fall North American tour and debut comic book
Sleep are back, and things look different. On June 18, 2026, the stoner doom metal legends released “Have Spacesuit Will Travel,” their first new music since The Sciences in 2018, and announced a 25-date fall North American tour beginning September 8 in San Diego and closing November 17 in Washington D.C. The return comes with a significant change: co-founding guitarist and High on Fire frontman Matt Pike is no longer in the band, leaving bassist, vocalist, and primary songwriter Al Cisneros as the sole original member. General tickets go on sale June 25 at 10am local time.
The departure of Pike is the headline that will dominate the conversation, but the new lineup is not a stopgap measure. Cisneros has assembled a genuinely formidable pair of replacements. On guitar is Bubba Dupree, founding member of Washington D.C. hardcore legends Void, one of the most influential acts in American punk history.
On drums is Dale Crover, the Melvins mainstay who has been one of the most consistently excellent heavy drummers in rock for four decades and has previously appeared on records by Nirvana, Foo Fighters, and countless others. This is not a lineup pieced together from available bodies. It is a deliberate statement about where Sleep intends to go next.
‘Have Spacesuit Will Travel’ and What It Sounds Like
“Have Spacesuit Will Travel” was released via Third Man Records, Jack White’s Nashville-based label, marking a new label home for the band following their work with Sargent House and Drag City. The track is the first Sleep recording to not feature Pike’s guitar playing, and Cisneros’ description of the session makes clear that the chemistry with Dupree arrived immediately. “The vibe of the first jam was obvious,” Cisneros said in a press release.
“It was blue sunglasses-era Iommi in the quality, and equally awesome is Bubba is also one of the coolest people I’ve been able to make music with.” The Tony Iommi reference, specifically the tone and approach Iommi developed during Black Sabbath’s Sabotage and Technical Ecstasy era, is a precise and useful pointer toward where the new Sleep material is heading sonically.
The band’s statement on Pike’s departure was generous without being detailed: “Al wishes Matt the best on his earth bound maneuvers.” The exact circumstances of Pike’s exit are not publicly known beyond that. What is known is that drummer Jason Roeder, who played on The Sciences, revealed back in spring 2025 that he had been “unceremoniously” fired from the band and had not spoken with either member in some time. As recently as March 2024, Pike had publicly hinted at upcoming recording and performing plans with Sleep, making the departure announcement a surprise even by the standards of a band that has always operated on its own timeline.
The Tour, the Comic Book, and What Comes Next
Alongside the new single and tour announcement, Sleep revealed the first issue of the Sleep Comic Book, written by Al Cisneros. The comic extends the Dopesmoker mythology into a new medium and represents the kind of worldbuilding that Cisneros has always been drawn toward: the idea that Sleep is not just a band but an entire cosmology with its own language, symbols, and narrative traditions.
The North American tour hits 25 cities across September and November, with notable multi-night stands at The Fillmore in San Francisco on September 25 and 26, two nights at Seattle’s Neptune Theatre on September 21 and 22, and a Los Angeles date at The Wiltern on September 28. The Austin stop lands at Levitation, the festival and venue series that has become one of the most important curatorial spaces for heavy and psychedelic music in North America. A new album has also been teased. Sleep, operating with a new lineup and first new music in eight years, are moving forward on every front simultaneously.
Full Sleep 2026 Tour Dates:
Sept. 8 San Diego, CA @ The Observatory / Sept. 9 Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren / Sept. 10 Albuquerque, NM @ Revel / Sept. 12 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater / Sept. 13 Austin, TX @ Levitation / Sept. 14 Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre / Sept. 16 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre / Sept. 17 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Grand at the Complex / Sept. 18 Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Hall / Sept. 20 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom / Sept. 21-22 Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre / Sept. 23 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater / Sept. 25-26 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore / Sept. 27 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst /
Sept. 28 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern / Sept. 29 Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory / Nov. 4 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue / Nov. 5 Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater / Nov. 6 Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre / Nov. 7 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall / Nov. 8 Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre / Nov. 10 Toronto, ON @ Opera House / Nov. 12 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club / Nov. 14 Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw / Nov. 15 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer / Nov. 17 Washington D.C. @ 9:30 Club
