After a decade of persistence, reinvention, and refusing to bend to expectation, Culture Wars have arrived at a defining moment with Don’t Speak, their long-awaited debut album. Released via AWAL, the record captures a band stepping fully into its identity, pairing arena-sized alt-rock ambition with the emotional honesty of lived experience. Built on themes of growth, regret, love, self-awareness, and survival, Don’t Speak is not simply an introduction to the Texas five-piece, but a statement of intent from a band that has spent years finding its voice and sharpening its sound.
At the centre of the record is frontman Alex Dugan’s journey through personal upheaval and transformation. What began during a period of instability and self-destruction gradually evolved into something more reflective and resolved, shaped by the major life changes that unfolded while the album was being made. That emotional shift gives Don’t Speak its core tension, balancing the person he once was with the one he has become. Songs such as Typical Ways, which Dugan describes as an angry letter to his former self, sit alongside more vulnerable moments like Tokyo and In The Morning, revealing an album that is as introspective as it is sonically expansive.
That scale is no accident. Having tested their material in arenas and stadiums while sharing stages with acts including Maroon 5, Keane, Wallows, and LANY, Culture Wars used those experiences to shape a record built for bigger rooms and louder moments. Yet for all its ambition, Don’t Speak remains grounded in the band’s commitment to making music on their own terms. In a landscape increasingly dominated by formula and artificiality, Culture Wars are proudly pushing back, making songs as a real band, together, with all the tension, instinct, and chemistry that comes with it. As global momentum continues to build, Don’t Speak feels like both the culmination of everything they have worked toward and the beginning of something even bigger.
With global momentum continuing to build, that next chapter will soon reach the UK too, with the band set to bring Don’t Speak to London on June 19 as part of their upcoming run of live dates.
For readers discovering you for the first time, how would you introduce yourself and your sound in your own words?
We’re just a band of 5 guys from Texas that are just playing rock music, the music that we always wanted to make. I guess in a world of artificial computer-created teams of writers, labels shoving things down people’s throats, we’re just a band of guys making music, so if you’re into that kind of thing, that’s what we are.
Don’t Speak feels like a major turning point for the band. What does releasing your debut album at this stage in your journey mean to you personally and creatively?
Personally, I don’t really know yet, to be honest. I think we’ve just been working towards this thing for so long that now that it’s happening, your kind of ‘what’s next?’ and that’s maybe a personality flaw, but artistically this is the record that 10 years ago, when Dave and I wanted to start a band, we would have wanted to have made, it’s just we didn’t know how to do it, and we certainly didn’t know everybody yet, and we didn’t have a band. So, it does feel full circle, to end up back in this exact place, making this record. It feels good.
The album explores the tension between who you were and who you’re becoming. How did that theme naturally reveal itself whilst making the record?
I think just because I grew up so much in the process of making the record. When we started writing these songs, I had my own personal issues and wasn’t taking care of myself. I was just not in a great place. I started making songs like “Typical Ways’” and by the time it ended, I met a girl, got engaged, got married, had a kid, all in the making of this album. I certainly take care of myself well, thanks to her, so, my life has changed a lot, and I’ve grown up a lot. I think in going back and rewriting the lyrics to typical ways, essentially four years later, from a different perspective is why it works, but also going through that helped me kind of go “okay, yeah the lyrics were it’s cool to be stuck in your typical ways, and I’m like, no, that’s not the point, it’s actually a problem” so, just to look at it backwards that is interesting.
You described “Typical Ways” as “an angry letter to my former self.” What was it like turning that kind of personal reckoning into a song?
I guess to follow up into it, it’s certainly interesting. I think it’s a part of me that I was able to close a chapter on, in a way, by doing that. I think going through that process, I think the guys in the band just were not understanding what I was doing or going through, and thank God I’m stubborn, I just was like “fuck off, let me work on this” and they’re like, “just pick lyrics” and I go “no, this is important, leave me alone”. So, it’s good that I finally got it right, and I’m glad that people enjoy it, and I’m glad that it works, because I think the whole song would have been awful if I had left the lyrics.
There’s a strong emotional thread running through this album, from regret to heartbreak to acceptance to growth. Did writing Don’t Speak feel cathartic for you?
Writing in general, I guess does. I mean, yes is the answer. I’m a little more emotionally avoidant, so probably not a full yes, I’m not always that way, but just with the writing stuff, I like to distance myself a little bit from it, but there’s songs like “Tokyo” that I wrote about missing my wife on tour, and I do remember writing that on acoustic guitar by myself in my hotel, and kind of just losing my shit afterwards, because I didn’t know that was in there. But now seeing the song I am kind of really happy that I did this. So, it certainly can be, but also like a sports thing, but I kind of love it for the love of the game. I love writing music, and I love being in the band.
“Lies” is tied to both the origins of the band and a period of emotional rebuilding. Why was it important to include that chapter of your story on this record?
It’s just a great song. I think when I brought up doing that with the guys, I knew the answer was going to be resistance, because we’re very much “that was the old us, this is us now” We’re very compartmentalized that way, but it’s just always been a great song, I just didn’t think it was recorded correctly but again, we didn’t know any better, this is 10 years previous, or whatever it is. So, to bring it back into that world, and then have everyone say, “Oh, this is great, and this works in the album”. It’s kind of in a way, to the rest of the guys being you know “we were never bad, we just didn’t know what we were doing”, so I think it was important for the band, but I also think it was important for us, I think it deserved to be on the record, and it needed to be.
Bittersweet touches on the uneasy reality of adulthood and learning that life doesn’t always unfold the way you planned. How much of that song reflects where you are in life right now?
That one was written fairly recently, so everything in life and in our career is always a “yeah but…’. You’re gonna get what you want, but there’s gonna be some other pile of shit you gotta eat through it. It’s just kind of growing up and accepting that life is life, and you have to be able to roll with the punches but also being able to appreciate that you are still doing what you wanted to do, it’s just not exactly how you wanted it.
“In The Morning” captures loneliness and late-night vulnerability. When you look back at that version of yourself who wrote the song, what stands out to you now?
I think it’s just that kind of yearning of feeling like everything that’s happening to you is happening right then and there, and happening to no one else, and you’re just in a very young part of your life, so writing that retrospectively was kind of interesting, but I still remember, it wasn’t that long ago when I was in that place, and you’re just in this place of just wanting acceptance from anything and anyone and whatever, and you’re just lost, it’s certainly interesting to look back on.
Sonically, the album feels bigger, bolder, and built for large stages. How conscious were you of making a record that could live as powerfully in an arena as it does on headphones?
Well, that’s just from playing in arenas and stadiums, and testing it. We remixed the record based on playing in arenas and stadiums, we went “oh, no, this needs to sound like this” and I’ve heard similar stories from other bands. There’s that Kings Leon reference from when they toured with U2, and then they went and did the next album, and they’re like “oh no, this needs to sound like it should be in these bigger spaces”, and it’s essentially what happened to us, so it was a direct influence, but it’s from doing it. Who gets to test their album in arenas and stadiums, and then go back and rewrite it, and then test that in arenas and stadiums with somebody else after the fact. I mean, it’s just unusual.
Culture wars have been praised for blending different influences into something that feels distinctly your own. How would you describe the sound of Don’t Speak in your own words?
I think for us it’s really just about the band and getting the band to stand on its own two feet, getting the songs to stand alone. I think the sound of the band is the guys, and the fact that we are all very different people with different tastes in music is why it works, as opposed to trying to get everybody else to agree with us, or get everybody in the band to agree, like one person having the idea and getting the other four to agree with my idea, it’s more bringing everybody into it, making it collectively our own, and then realizing that that is better than if we did it on our own. So, I think it’s just acknowledging that push and pull and letting it happen is what kind of gave that sound to everything.
After a breakout year that included a Top 20 Alternative Radio hit, millions of streams, and sold-out headline shows, how has your relationship with the band’s momentum changed?
It’s all very surreal and happy, and I think we’re trying to make sure that we’re pushing the band in the right way, and growing the band in the right way, sustainably, and also not sticking our neck out so far that we get hit, because when you’re selling stuff out and things are buzzing, you do have to put your foot in the right place, I think we’re doing that. We’re taking some very big swings with our shows and our touring and our album and everything we’re doing, and we’re so far, so good, nailing it, but there’s always that little bit of now the risk is real. If you put a show somewhere and don’t sell it out, or barely sell it, which luckily has not happened, then the story changes. Right now, the story for us is we sell everything out, so making sure that we continue the story, or the trajectory of not overstepping, I remember seeing bands I love play in empty rooms, and it definitely sticks with you as a fan, or as a concert goer, so just keeping our heads on our shoulders.
You’ve already shared stages with acts like Maroon 5, Keane, Wallows and LANY. What have those experiences taught you about live performance and the kind of band you want to become?
Playing those big rooms was super important and helpful for us, but we’re always studying how they build their shows, how they transition from song to song, how their crew operates, every little thing. We sit and we study quietly, and learn a lot, and I think it’s given us on the road, for example, a lot of efficiency. Also, we’ve learned how to build the show correctly, how to do our own headlining thing. We’ve taken from everybody a lot in that way, so it’s things you wouldn’t notice, but how do you get from the third song to the fourth song? When do you talk? stuff like that. I mean, the other part of it you know, Maroon 5 was like “we toured our first album for 3 years”, and that was when we were considering rewriting the album, and we were like, “oh no, we’re not touring that for 3 years” and we went back and rewrote the album, so it’s definitely, influenced a lot.
With the world headline tour rolling out across 2026, how are you preparing to bring the emotional weight and scale of Don’t Speak to audiences around the world?
We rehearse everything to death, we rehearse so often and so many times that I know we are ready when I can be on Instagram and do the entire set and not mess up at all, and completely zone out and not even be paying attention, because when you get on stage there are plenty of distractions and you wanna not mess up,. We just rehearse it into the ground, and then you can be in the moment, enjoy everything and play the hell out of it because you would know that even if you got carried away, you wouldn’t forget anything or screw up.
You were recently named to Apple Music and Shazam’s Fast Forward series. Does that kind of recognition shift your mindset at all, or do you still approach the band the same way you always have?
Maybe when I was younger that kind of stuff would, but at this point, I think now it doesn’t register with me at all. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Straight answer is no, it doesn’t really shift my mindset, it’s nice, but I’ve been trying to be in a band for 10 years, we’ve been working so long to get to this point so now that we are getting these things, let’s keep our head down and keep working.
There’s a line in the press release about not waiting for permission anymore and building it yourselves. Do you feel like this album represents a new level of confidence and self-belief for Culture Wars?
Yes definitely, but it’s a confidence we had to build over a very long period of time. We have our own confidence, but I wouldn’t even call it confidence, I would just call it “this is us and this is what we are doing, and if this doesn’t work then whatever”. We are very self-aware in that regard, and this is what we think is great and if this doesn’t land, then maybe we are not meant to do this. I wouldn’t even call it confidence, maybe just nothing-to-lose kind of realism. It’s like the film “Die Hard”, we’ve got nothing left to lose and just trying to accomplish the mission, so live or die.
Looking at Don’t Speak as your debut statement, what do you hope listeners understand about Culture Wars after spending time with this album?
I don’t necessarily think it’s about understanding us, I think it’s about just experiencing the music in your own way. What I do hope is that people take some passive recognition that this is music by a band, everything is recorded in a traditional way, and it’s not a bunch of computers and we didn’t hire a bunch of people to make it sound good. We literally did this whole thing ourselves, and I hope they, on some level recognise there is still merit to that, and there is still a pop culture merit to it. There are plenty of bands doing stuff all the time, but this kind of music deserves to be back at the forefront of pop culture. I hope that we can be a piece of that continuing movement to getting rid of the computer shit. I think we are in a place where people want something real and people wanna feel something, they don’t wanna just crash out and chill. I hope people enjoy themselves and enjoy the band and the music and get some energy out of it and enjoy their lives.
