In February 2005, DeLonge, who wanted to spend more time with his family, quit Blink-182 after months of heated exchanges and increasing tension within the trio and spent three weeks in isolation, contemplating his life, career, and future in music.

Inspired by personal crises and global events, We Don't Need to Whisper was conceptualized as DeLonge taught himself to play instruments and created his own home studio.

He recruited his longtime friend and guitarist David Kennedy of Box Car Racer, as well as drummer Atom Willard and bassist Ryan Sinn to form Angels & Airwaves, who were primarily inspired by arena rock groups such as U2 and The Police.

Three of the four singles released in promotion of the album reached the top 20 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, with "The Adventure" peaking at number five.

Blink-182 consisted of guitarist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker, and by 2004 had been regarded as the most successful pop punk act of the time since the releases of Enema of the State (1999) and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001).

[8] The moody subject matter on Box Car Racer was incorporated into the sound of Blink-182, who explored experimentalist elements on their eponymous fifth studio album (2003).

[12] He eventually expressed his desire to take a half-year respite from touring to spend more time with family matters, a decision that Hoppus and Barker asserted was a lengthy interruption.

[14] Blink-182 agreed to perform at Music for Relief's Concert for South Asia, a benefit show to aid victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, but further arguments that ensued during rehearsals rooted in the band members' increasing paranoia and bitterness toward each other.

This communication breakdown led to heated exchanges resulting in his departure from the group,[8] which Geffen announced on February 22, 2005 would be going on an "indefinite hiatus",[16] and he would not speak to Barker or Hoppus for several years, although he called the latter his greatest friend.

"[5] He rediscovered the epiphany developed during his tour with Kerry and applied it to the philosophy of Angels & Airwaves, while he redefined himself as he learned to play piano and self-produce and formed his own home studio.

Following Blink-182's disestablishment, he declined offers from highly prolific musicians to collaborate on their developing material[18] and recruited longtime friend and Box Car Racer guitarist David Kennedy.

In September 2005, after spending months avoiding publicity, DeLonge announced his new Angels & Airwaves project and promised "the greatest rock and roll revolution for this generation.

[5] Thoroughly utilized by the band, DeLonge often discussed minor details and plans for accompanying films and other promotional matter, and his managers approached him having an "intervention" in which they disquietingly questioned his frame of mind.

[4] His ambitious beliefs were intensified by his addiction to Vicodin, a drug which he used due to his back problem[23] and did not try out again when he was unable to obtain it for a week, hallucinating and deep in withdrawal.

The publication found the album to not be abounding or thought-provoking and commented: "While the lyrics might be DeLonge at his most soul-searching, the music is built for nothing smaller than football stadiums.

"[2] Entertainment Weekly journalist Leah Greenblatt gave the album a B− rating, commending its obvious influences while also criticizing DeLonge's vocals.

It stated that his vocals might improve to resemble those of Robert Smith heard on tracks like "It Hurts", but likened it to a high school student with a job at Del Taco communicating with a drive-through microphone.

[29] Rolling Stone writer Christian Hoard summarized the record and the mixed reviews simply as "DeLonge yanks heartstrings with so-so results"[31] and saw the atmospheric elements as excessive.

[36] “Being in the studio brought back memories of AVA’s first album and I thought it’d be fun to reimagine those tracks and play around with the arrangements a bit.

Additionally, the band released a lyric video for the acoustic version of "The Adventure", which contained footage of the album's original studio sessions.