Greg Dulli and company are back, and they’re not here to play nice — well, not entirely. The Afghan Whigs have announced their tenth studio album, Soft Control, arriving August 21, 2026 via Royal Cream/BMG. To sweeten the deal, they’ve dropped the album’s first single, “Jungle Roux,” a slinky, simmering preview of what’s to come. Pre-orders and pre-saves are live now.

Watch the “Jungle Roux” visualizer here: https://youtu.be/55Err1-C8rI

Recorded across a constellation of studios — Fireside Sound in Joshua Tree, Marigny Studios in New Orleans, Gold Diggers Sound in East Hollywood, and Sycamore in Cincinnati — Soft Control was culled from 22 songs down to a lean, deliberate 37-minute run time. The band left some favorites on the cutting room floor in service of a tighter, more cinematic statement. Guest appearances include former Whigs drummer Patrick Keeler, vocalist/violist Petra Haden, and Bo Koster of My Morning Jacket, among others.

Thematically, Soft Control finds Dulli in a different headspace than the volatile firestarter of the band’s earlier years. Think less unchecked inferno, more wry, self-aware satori — though the edge is still very much intact.

“I’ve worked hard on my inner peace,” Dulli said. “I was an angry young man, and it fueled my art, ambition and my drive. I wouldn’t change anything because I can’t. But as I got into photography and other art forms, I realized that I’m not in competition with anyone – including myself. Now, I know what I’m doing and there’s a quiet confidence that comes with being able to back it up.”

That balance — bone-rattling guitars butting up against cubist refractions of soul and R&B, bangers alongside somber reflections — is exactly what long-time Whigs fans have come to expect, and what newer listeners will find impossible to ignore. It’s an album that welcomes both the light and the darkness, often in the same breath.

Soft Control Tracklist:
1. Jungle Roux
2. House of I
3. Duvateen
4. My Lover
5. The Deepest Part of the Darkest Shadow
6. Mariah Luster
7. Memphis, Texas
8. 77
9. Loose Talk
10. A Simulation

The band has also announced a hefty run of North American and European tour dates for this fall, with tickets going on sale Friday. Joining them across the pond is Mercury Prize-nominated songwriter Ed Harcourt, while Minneapolis country-soul-psych-rock outfit Night Moves — riding high off last year’s Double Life — will handle North American support duties.

The Afghan Whigs 2026 Tour Dates:
Jul 10 – Brugge, Belgium – Cactus Festival
Sep 19 – Leeds, UK – Stylus
Sep 20 – Nottingham, UK – The Palais
Sep 22 – Glasgow, UK – SWG3 Galvanizers
Sep 23 – Manchester, UK – O2 Ritz
Sep 24 – London, UK – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Sep 26 – Brighton, UK – Chalk
Sep 27 – Paris, FR – Trabendo
Sep 28 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
Sep 30 – Cologne, DE – Luxor
Oct 1 – Liege, BE – OM
Oct 3 – Eindhoven, Netherlands
Oct 4 – Antwerp, BE – De Roma
Oct 5 – Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique
Nov 4 – Orlando, FL – Beacham Theater
Nov 5 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
Nov 7 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
Nov 8 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
Nov 10 – Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
Nov 11 – Toronto, ON – The Concert Hall
Nov 13 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
Nov 14 – Chicago, IL – The Metro
Nov 15 – St. Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
Nov 19 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues
Nov 20 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
Nov 21 – Austin, TX – Scoot Inn

Pre-save Soft Control, grab your tickets on Friday, and dive into “Jungle Roux” now — this is the Afghan Whigs sharpening every knife in the drawer, and doing it with the kind of confidence that only comes from a band that has absolutely nothing left to prove.