GANS describe the new single as "a soup of casual sex and witchcraft" — a line that pretty much sums up where the whole album started. Both members went through breakups while writing it.
The West Midlands duo of Thomas Rhodes (bass, guitar, synths, vocals) and Euan Woodman (drums, vocals, synths) have announced their follow-up to 2025 debut album "Good For The Soul." The self-titled record, "GANS," is set for release on February 28 via Strap Originals.
In a statement, the band revealed that the breakups they went through during writing directly shaped the album's narrative: "'My God Is A Stranger' is a snapshot of someone trying to find belonging through casual relationships and flings. We've always been into spirituality and the occult, having gone down that rabbit hole ourselves at one point, and it started seeping into the lyrics we were writing — a soup of casual sex and witchcraft that we were wading through, trying to figure out what it all meant for our own growth."
On the track, the pair sing in unison, "nothing good for my health," before continuing, "been in love, been in lust, lost myself in someone who wasn't me... I'm the lover, I'm the preacher, I'm the church, and I'm the truth, but my god is a stranger" — the lyrics swing back and forth between the language of lust and the language of faith, echoing that "soup" mentioned in their statement.
The track follows previous single "Do You Glow?" The self-directed video captures a live performance, filmed at The Vaults in Vauxhall, London, with touring member Tommy Lawther playing saxophone in the clip.
"GANS" was written in an Airbnb in the Netherlands and later produced by Youth at his studio in southern Spain. The band describes the record as having "a more expansive sound, leaning further into electronic territory." The tracklist runs: "At Peace," "Over Again," "Do You Glow?," "Make Me Weak," "My God Is A Stranger," "Archie's Day," "Step Psychosis," "I Feel Connected," "Love Has Changed," and "Roadtripping."
GANS have already racked up nearly 200 shows this year and kick off a new UK tour next week, with October dates hitting Aberdeen, Liverpool, Sheffield and more. They'll play London's 100 Club on November 6, then join Opus Kink as support at O2 Forum Kentish Town on November 26. Tour dates for 2027 have yet to be announced.
