Ryley Walker Returns With New Song "Carrier" and Signs to AD 93, Marking His First Solo Material in Five Years

Acclaimed singer-songwriter and virtuoso guitarist Ryley Walker has officially made his long-awaited return to the spotlight, announcing both a fresh label home and his first original solo material in five years. Today, Walker revealed that he has signed with the forward-thinking independent label AD 93. To celebrate the new partnership, he has unveiled a brand-new single titled "Carrier," marking his initial solo release since his widely praised 2021 studio album, Course in Fable. Alongside the audio track, Walker has shared an accompanying official music video directed by Kendra Calhoun, offering fans their first visual and sonic taste of this newly minted creative chapter.

The journey toward "Carrier" has been a gradual, grounded process for the musician, rooted deeply in the realities of day-to-day life rather than the insulated bubble of a traditional recording studio. Describing the track in press materials, Walker characterized the song as a quintessential "clock-out jam." It is a piece of music that he deliberately chipped away at and refined after finishing long, grueling shifts at his service industry job in New York City. The juxtaposition of working a standard, taxing hospitality job while maintaining an acclaimed career as a touring and recording musician has lent a distinct working-class grit and authenticity to Walker’s perspective, informing the thematic underpinnings of his latest work.

Rather than looking inward for inspiration during those exhausting hours behind the scenes, Walker found himself mentally returning to his roots and drawing creative fuel from the unique characters of his hometown. He elaborated on the specific imagery that fueled the creation of the track, offering a vivid glimpse into the minds of the people who shaped his early outlook. He was thinking of the people back home in Rockford, Illinois—specifically conjuring the image of individuals wearing SpongeBob pajama pants to a funeral, a particular brand of unapologetic, small-town eccentricity. Furthermore, he noted that he imagined these same figures screaming passionately behind the wheel of a salvage-title Honda Civic outfitted with a lift kit. To Walker, these idiosyncratic everyday folks are not just figures of amusement; they are a vital wellspring of creativity, noting emphatically that they inspire him every single day.

While "Carrier" represents Walker’s first solo music under his own name since the release of Course in Fable, the intervening half-decade has by no means been a quiet period for the prolific artist. Over the past five years, Walker has kept exceptionally busy by embedding himself deeply within various pockets of the underground, experimental, and indie music communities. Rather than rushing into a follow-up solo record, he chose to redirect his boundless creative energy toward collaborative efforts, lending his distinct guitar dexterity and improvisational sensibility to a wide array of fellow artists and kindred spirits.

In the time since Course in Fable arrived to critical acclaim, Walker has frequently served as a trusted collaborator and sideman. He has contributed his intricate, textural guitar work to projects spearheaded by artists such as james K and Joanne Robertson, enriching their sonic landscapes with his fluid phrasing and deep harmonic understanding. Beyond those partnerships, his name has routinely surfaced alongside a who’s who of contemporary experimental, avant-garde, and jazz-adjacent musicians. Walker has actively collaborated and shared stages or studio spaces with an impressive roster of esteemed peers, including Charles Rumback, Steve Gunn, Chris Corsano, and David Grubb, among others. These ongoing collaborations have allowed him to continually stretch his technical boundaries, keeping his musicianship sharp and adventurous while operating largely outside the rigid pressures of a traditional solo album cycle.

The signing to AD 93 marks an intriguing new alignment for Walker, whose past output has spanned various independent labels, most notably his own Husky Pants Records, as well as Dead Oceans, where Course in Fable was released. Known for championing adventurous, boundary-pushing electronic, ambient, and indie music, AD 93 provides an ideal home for an artist like Walker, whose career has increasingly leaned into unconventional song structures, intricate guitar interplay, and a general resistance to easy genre categorization.

With the arrival of "Carrier," fans who have patiently awaited new solo material from the Chicago-bred, New York-based artist are treated to a song that balances the sophisticated composition of his recent era with the rugged, lived-in perspective of his working-class daily life. The Kendra Calhoun-directed video for the track complements the song’s blue-collar ethos and idiosyncratic inspiration, rounding out an exciting return for one of contemporary indie music’s most restless and gifted guitarists. As Walker steps into this new era with AD 93, "Carrier" stands as both a rewarding payoff for five years of anticipation and a thrilling preview of whatever creative territory he chooses to explore next.