I don’t know about you, but the increasing merger of major media companies paired with the data mining of AI and Oracle kinda scares the shit out of me. If it hasn’t happened to many people already, any sense of liberty that we have may soon be under control by the tech billionaires and the governments that cozy up to them (yes, I live in the U.S., if you were wondering). So, in some sense of self-defense, I have been turning to more thoughtful and artsy films, trying to read complex literature more, and, as always, new and interesting music that subverts expectations. That is why I am thankful that today’s premiere from Germany’s Gavial has taken “Control”, at least for a few minutes, a welcome escape from…well, all of this.

“Control”, off of Gavial‘s upcoming sophomore album, Thanks, I Hate It, on Exile On Mainstream, shows the band leaning into a bass driven groove with a steady drum beat, and guitars that flirt with the blues. Guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Butter delivers clear, melodious lyrics as the song progresses that echo my sentiments. “Control” gradually builds in krautrock fashion revealing psych-rock crescendos with guitars swirling into the song’s gnarly climax. Butter also directed the video which shows glimpses of the band playing along with found footage behind night vision greens and blues during the build-up before bursting into a Technicolor visual collage that morphs into an eye watching the viewer back, a fitting and trippy visual accompaniment to “Control” that ends with the band as ghostly shadows.

Thanks, I Hate It will be Gavial‘s (previously known as Tourette Boys) follow-up to VOR, and sees the addition of bassist Paul Kollascheck to Benjamin Butter, Conrad Brod (drums), and Paul Willie Stoyan (guitar), giving the groups some more focus and emphasis on the low end. Like their previous material,* Thanks, I Hate It* is shaped by the cultural, social, and political realities around us, expressing a response to increasing militarism, nefarious technologies, more despots and hate, and the super-rich for whom it all serves.

This promises to be a psychedelic journey that I will anticipate until its release on January 23, 2026. Pre-orders are up, now at the Exile On Mainstream web shop as well as Bandcamp. You can follow Gavial on Facebook and Instagram.