31. January 2025
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Media Review

Gus Englehorn – The Hornbook

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Gus Englehorn - The Hornbook

Gus Englehorn - The Hornbook
4.3

Rating

 4.3/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Well-written and produced album
  • Very versatile, sometimes surprising

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Sometimes, a bit too virtuous

You don’t know Gus Englehorn? Maybe you know him as Gus Engle. The US-American musician has been pursuing a professional snowboarding career, but always dreamed of doing music. He did so the first time in 2020, when he released his debut album Death & Transfiguration. On 31st January 2025, he released his third album overall, The Hornbook.

 

Gus Englehorn – About The Artist

Gus Englehorn is originally from Alaska. The indie-rock artist lived in multiple places like Utah, Quebec and Portland, and is nowadays based in Hawaii. His wife Estee is also his drummer. After his debut album, he released his sophomore album Dungeon Master in 2022. The album was very popular in the critics.

 

Gus Englehorn – The Hornbook – Track by Track

The nine track album lasts 31:07 minutes.

1. One Eyed Jack Pt. I and II (The Interrogation/The Other Side)

Welcome to the world of Gus Englehorn. The first track already leaves a mark and clearly underlines that The Hornbook might turn out to become a really special listen. The lyrics have a touch of a children’s story and feel simple and repetitve. The melodic part comes with a clear indie signature. However, some parts even remind me of world music, which leads to a characteristic, but somehow also interesting listen. The song plays with introducing new ideas and elements regularly, which leads to a very versatile listen.

2. Thyme

Like the opener, Thyme had been selected as a single release by Gus Englehorn and his team. Similarly to the first track, the song feels playful and virtuous. However, this one does not work with that many distortions and electronic elements. Overall, this leads to a more melodic and also mature experience.

3. The Itch

The Itch again opens with a rather childish element. However, the song develops to a very narrative song thereafter. It also has a nice flow, which reminds of folk music.

4. Roderick of the Vale

Roderick of the Vale comes with similar characteristics than its predecessor. However, the five minute track feels more gentle, which leads to a stronger focus on the storytelling. Englehorn’s wife has some solo vocal parts, which lead to a nice theatric plot. The story has a nice touch of irony, which makes this track really enjoyable.

5. Metal Detector

Don’t you think that there should be more songs about a Metal Detector? At least, this US-American artist does – and dedicates the following 2:27 minutes of The Hornbook to this focus. The fifth song of his album is more virtuous and sometimes tends to cacophonic styles. The vocals partially remind of hip hop, before they fall back to a darker rock sound. Synth sounds in the background sometimes remind of an alien attack. Here and there, they even remind me of bird cheeping. There is quite a lot going on in this short song.

6. The Whirlwind’s Speaking

With three minutes duration, the sixth song is another rather short song. Nonetheless, you just cannot say that it does not leave a mark. The songs in The Hornbook present own sounds, new plots, new ideas. This rather slow song has a really fine dramatic touch.

7. Sweet Marie

The seventh song on Gus Englehorn’s 2025 album is named Sweet Marie. The song works with a rather limited setup in the beginning. Towards its middle, The artist suddenly presents a fine harmonic melody, from which he is developing the theme until the end of the track.

8. A Song With Arms and Legs

There is a lot of imagination and metaphors in the songs of this. In the penultimate listen, Englehorn is introducing you into A Song With Armss and Legs. What mght feel naive or too simple at the beginning, is a really well made up song. Similarly, this experience feels true for the whole album. Thumbs up.

9. One Eyed Jack Part III (Epilogue)

The One Eyed Jack, who opened the album, is also back for the chucker-out – or epilogue, how it is called in here. The artist and his wife do a rather straight song in here. Nonetheless, the song is in line with the previous tracks and offers some really nice and surprising tweaks.

 

Gus Englehorn – The Hornbook – Spotify

I will add the Spotify widget once the album has been released.

 

Gus Englehorn – The Hornbook – My View

Would I rather buy and listen to The Hornbook if I found it in a record store? Quite likely not. Nonetheless, I gave it a chance and went for the review. And I have to say: I really like the album. You won’t find it any of the songs in mainstream radio, but it is interesting and entertaining music. From that perspective, there is no doubt about the quality of the album.

Favorite song: Roderick of the Vale

 

Rock Music Top Pick! Reviews

Here are all my album reviews of rock music releases leading to a Top Pick! rating:

 

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