If Gus Englehorn didn’t exist, one of his songs would have to invent him. A former pro snowboarder reborn as a nomadic psych-pop prophet, Englehorn has lived a rollercoaster life that reads like one of the fantastical fables that fill his songbook. Back in January 2020, right at the dawn of the pandemic, Englehorn released his first album, Death & Transfiguration [...] But even as life has since opened up again, Englehorn is still firmly situated in a world of his own madcap design. Where 2022’s Dungeon Master walked the tightrope between DIY discord and prog-scaled storytelling, his third album, The Hornbook, magically transmutes the entire history of 20th-century rock ‘n’ roll—’50s golden oldies, ‘60s garage spunk, ‘70s glam flamboyance,‘80s indie transgression, ‘90s lo-fi weirdness—into an alien transmission from the future. The Hornbook was mixed by Paul Leary from the legendary punk band Butthole Surfers and marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration. Leary and Englehorn reunited on The Broken Balladeer, due February 27, 2026, this time with Leary taking on the role of producer. They also enlisted the help of industry legends Stuart Sullivan, Howie Weinberg, and Kramer.
