Emerging with a sound inspired by '90s grunge with modern, refined energy, Return to Dust has continued to gain momentum as a growing powerhouse in the hard rock scene. The band's most recent EP release, Speak like the Dead, which features the hit single "Bored," highlights a denser, moodier sound while mixing in edgy introspective themes lyrically.
Their latest single, "New Religion," carries that energy even further with another bold track that shapes the bands unapologetic grit, reinforcing growth in each era. Adding on to new music, you can catch them appearing at multiple European festival dates in 2026, including Rock im Park, Rock am Ring, Download, Nova Rock, and more. I recently had the chance to chat with Return to Dust about the meaning behind their latest single, the creative elements captured in the video, and what the band hopes to accomplish next. Here's what they had to say.
For readers who might be discovering your music for the first time, how would you describe Return To Dust in your own words?
Matty: I would say, like 90s heavy rock, kind of emotional songwriting. Also with harmonies and dual vocals.
Can you recall an early moment that solidified who you wanted to be creatively today?
Matty: We were leaving our now producer's house for the first time in Los Angeles, and on the drive back to Texas, Graham and I were listening to "Rain and I Die" by Alice In Chains, and that was when I think we both realized we wanted to make music like this.
Are there any "rules" you give yourselves when writing (or things you try not to limit yourselves with)?
Graham: I think limitations actually help. I think if you don't limit yourself or if there aren't any limitations, then you can be almost paralyzed with a decision because there are too many options.
Matty: I think, to a certain extent, actually. I think in songwriting, you need to have zero boundaries and zero limitations or anything like that, but you do need to choose a sound, and you need to stick with it, or else you're just going to be floundering.
London: Yeah, limits are a good thing. You definitely don't want to keep yourself wrapped in it. It depends on how much time you have.
Graham: I think what I mean by limitations is like, "Oh, let's try to write a song that's just a verse that repeats over and over. It's like 6 verses, and that's the whole song. It's kind of just repeating."
Matty: But I would say that's no limitations.
Graham: Why would that be no limitations?
Matty: Because you're just doing something completely off-kilter.
Graham: No, you're limiting yourself to writing without a force.
Matty: I feel like that just happened. It wasn't something you set out to do. At least in our experience.
Graham: This is clearly a controversial topic.
What sparked the idea behind "New Religion," and what emotions or experiences were you pulling from when writing it?
Matty: That song was a combination of a bunch of jams in the garage that got written over a long period of time. Some artists will say they wrote a song in like an hour, but this one was over a span of a couple of weeks. It was a lot of Chris Cornell inspiration; like "Superunknown" was a big driving force of that song, but it has the riffs of "Badmotorfinger" in it, and lyrically, it doesn't really have any deep meaning. It was kind of just pulled from what I was thinking in my head at the time. While jotting lyrics at the time, it just felt right to sing, and it flowed super well, and that just became the lyrics. There's no grandiose meaning to it.
Graham: Yeah, I feel the song takes a harder stance or harder opinion. I feel like religion is danced around, and I think that everyone has every right to question what they believe, and I think you should, and for some reason that's kind of taboo. We've seen a lot of backlash on socials about this song because of that, but everyone should be free to question that. Like, "What is God?" you know what I mean and just that whole concept. I feel like a lot of people are like, "No, this is blasphemous! How dare you. He loves you." Yeah, so things like that.
If you had to boil the song down to its main message, what would it be, and how does that message speak to you personally?
Graham: I think there are a lot of powers that exist, that a large amount of people tend to gravitate towards, and you should have every right to be able to express yourself and to question those things.
What visual elements in the video do you think captures the heart of the song and why?
Matty: Well, we liked the furry route. London really liked the furry route very much.
Sebastian: There were a lot more scenes in the furry route.
London: I like where it's at now.
Matty: We just went to Spirit Halloween and got our masks. Just having fun. We went to this super remote desert place that has a bunch of cool art on the beach, and it smelled like shit and was grimy, and it looked like shit. So, we just shot a rock video there. It was just fun. It was like Burning Man, Return To Dust version.
Sebastian: Very creepy.
Graham: We wanted it to feel, kind of unsettling and very culty in a way.
Sebastian: I think a good way to describe it is if a kid is watching it and their parents saw the music video, they'd be like, "What are you watching?"
Graham: Yeah, like "What is on your screen right now?"
Sebastian: And I think we captured it very well.
In what ways does the live version of your songs feel unique compared to the studio version?
Graham: Hmm, we were just talking about this. I think we lean heavier live and maybe a bit more intense.
Sebastian: Energetic for sure.
Graham: Yeah, we get that a lot. People tell us that, and I think it's true listening back to it.
London: We add stuff too.
Graham: We do add stuff. Yeah, we extend bridges sometimes, and we extend endings sometimes.
London: I play whole different parts than the record.
Sebastian: Same.
Matty: Yeah, London chops the fuck up live.
Looking at what you've released or achieved this year, what are you most excited about moving forward with your music?
Sebastian: I think just being able to grow honestly with our skill and production-wise to go in and jam, like you said, have no limitations. I feel if we keep going with this, then we'll have more opportunities to do that and really get weird with the music and do that. Also, just put that out there for people. I want to just put all that out and show the whole world. World domination.
Graham: Woah, take that one out of context. So, I'm excited to find new boundaries with the sound. I think we have a lot of really cool ideas coming up in the future for how we want the band to sound and for what it's going to eventually sound like. I think the sky's the limit. We listen to so much different music, all of us, so we cover a lot of ground, and we've just scratched the surface of that currently.
What do you hope to accomplish next as you continue to grow and evolve as a band?
London: I'm excited for Europe. We got that coming up.
Matty: Yeah, we're going to be in Germany, Poland, France, the UK, I think Finland, Sweden, and Spain next year. All around, so it's super exciting. We're probably gonna hop on a tour while we're there too and just play around in all those areas and everything in between. The three of us have never been there before, so we're excited to go and see what it's like over there. Expand our worldview and then take that inspiration to the studio. The conveyor belt is going, and new songs are on it constantly. Just putting it down on the assembly line.
