By listening to Gus Englehorn’s music, it may be hard to imagine the fascinating biography of the now-Montreal-based songwriter, which includes time spent living in both non-contiguous United States and a stint as a world-class snowboarder. His debut album Death & Transfiguration would instead imply that Englehorn’s spent little time outside of a basement room stocked with Daniel Johnston tapes, the lo-fi garage pop—not to mention his distinctly Johnston-like timbre and delivery—clashing with the maximalism of extreme sports or a world outside of the weirdo-arts hub of Austin in the late-'80s.
Now with his sophomore record, Dungeon Master, scheduled for release next month, Englehorn is leaning into the musical persona he presented back in 2020 with his Secret City Records debut, most recently sharing the relatively amped-up single “Exercise Your Demons.” For his “Neighborhoods” session, though, he dipped back into his Transfiguration track list to perform “Stay Little” in Montreal, taking to an outdoor stage with a heavy blanket of snow behind him. Check it out below, and pre-order the new album here.
