{"id":765162,"date":"2026-09-09T15:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/765162\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:30:10","slug":"the-war-on-drugs-return-with-rousing-whos-that-their-first-new-single-in-five-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/765162\/","title":{"rendered":"The War On Drugs return with rousing ‘Who’s That’ \u2013 their first new single in five years"},"content":{"rendered":"

The War On Drugs<\/a> have returned with \u2018Who\u2019s That\u2019, their first new single in five years. Listen below.<\/p>\n

The song follows on from the US band\u2019s fifth and latest studio album, 2021\u2019s \u2018I Don\u2019t Live Here Anymore\u2019<\/a>, and their 2024 live record \u2018Live Drugs Again\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Written and produced by frontman Adam Granduciel at his Burbank studio compound, \u2018Who\u2019s That\u2019 is a rousing, synth-drenched anthem that finds him in a reflective state, as he acknowledges his mental state.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid I blow it?\/ Did it just explode?\u201d the musician contemplates. \u201cThere\u2019s a lion hanging from my teeth\/ I can taste it, but I can\u2019t get close\/ It\u2019s only my depression, baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cThere\u2019s a whole world running away from me\/ There\u2019s a lion hangin on my neck\/ I can tame it\/ But he might break free\/ Who\u2019s that?\/ It\u2019s only my depression, baby.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Speaking about the track, Granduciel explained: \u201c\u2018Who\u2019s That\u2019 was written in 10 minutes somewhere between first co\ufb00ee and school drop-off.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a song about trying to love yourself despite things we can\u2019t always control, like the anxiety, depression and self-doubt that may stand in the way of living the life we truly desire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The single is accompanied by a Max Flick-directed official video, following Granduciel on a surreal late-night stroll around the streets of Burbank in Los Angeles County, California. Tune in above.<\/p>\n

The song features drums from Anthony LaMarca, bass from Dave Hartley, and a selection of Granduciel\u2019s guitars and keyboards.<\/p>\n

The War On Drugs are set to play a run of headline shows and festivals in the US this autumn, including stops at Austin City Limits in Texas, and Sea.Hear.Now 2026 in New Jersey. Find any remaining tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The War On Drugs\u2019 US tour dates for 2026 are:<\/p>\n

SEPTEMBER
18 \u2013 The Queen, Wilmington, DE
19 \u2013 Sea.Hear.Now 2026, Asbury Park, NJ\u00a0
21 \u2013 Asheville Yards, Asheville, NC
23 \u2013 Avondale Brewing Company, Birmingham, AL
24 \u2013 Bourbon & Beyond 2026, Louisville, KY\u00a0<\/p>\n

OCTOBER
01 \u2013 Twilight Concert Series, Salt Lake City, UT
02 \u2013 Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, NV\u00a0
04 \u2013 Austin City Limits, Austin, TX\u00a0
11 \u2013 Austin City Limits , Austin, TX<\/p>\n

Over the summer, the group made appearances at numerous European events such as Mad Cool<\/a>, NOS Alive<\/a> and Rock Werchter<\/a>. They also opened for Mumford & Sons at BST Hyde Park in London<\/a>. Reviewing their Mad Cool slot<\/a>, NME said that \u201cThe War on Drugs were made for blissed-out festival moments like this\u201d.<\/p>\n

Since releasing \u2018I Don\u2019t Live Here Anymore\u2019, Granduciel has produced Sam Fender<\/a>\u2018s 2025 third album \u2018People Watching\u2019<\/a>. The LP won last year\u2019s Mercury Prize<\/a> and earned Fender his third UK Number One record<\/a>. Granduciel helmed The Hold Steady<\/a>\u00a0frontman\u00a0Craig Finn<\/a>\u2018s solo album \u2018Always Been\u2019<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

Last spring, The War On Drugs pulled out of supporting Fender on his UK tour <\/a>due to \u201cpersonal scheduling issues\u201d. Fender had brought out Granduciel to perform with him during his set at Coachella 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NME last spoke to Granduciel in 2021<\/a>, when he told us about how he first became aware of Fender: \u201cI know him for sure! Our saxophone player knows them really well. I remember he said, \u2018I\u2019m playing on this kid Sam\u2019s record \u2013 he\u2019s a big fan of our band; he\u2019s coming to the show\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I knew his name and then I would see him on the cover of some crazy British magazine. I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my god \u2013 this guy is like a phenomenon\u2019. We\u2019ve never communicated but it\u2019s so cool any time you see a guy writing songs from his heart and ripping a guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking about The War On Drugs\u2019 sound, the musician said: \u201cEven from the first record, people always said, \u2018I feel like I can hear these songs in stadiums\u2019. I was like, \u2018They\u2019re just home-recorded songs!\u2019 But somewhere along the line it became our reality.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The War On Drugs have returned with \u2018Who\u2019s That\u2019, their first new single in five years. Listen below.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,3583,128,3584,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-765162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-indie","tag-music","tag-rock","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}