Montreal singer-songwriter Gus Englehornannounces his sophomore album Dungeon Master, the cutest, heaviest, strangest rock’n’roll record you will hear this year. Set for release on April 29 via Secret City Records, the news is accompanied with a new single + video directed by Englehorn and Estée Preda; the stomping, paranoid “Tarantula.” Englehorn says, “This song is about uninvited recurring irrational thoughts and fears. I decided to make a little fable where a tarantula is whispering bad things into your ear. Most of the time I have to use a lot of words to get my point across, so I was particularly pleased with this one because there’s only 15 words in it.”

The release follows previous lead single “The Gate,” a delirious, headbanging allegory about facing your own mortality. In March, Englehorn will also feature as an official artist at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Dungeon Master, Englehorn’s Secret City Records debut, is an outsider opus that sparkles with Dada spirit — a playful juxtaposition of isolation, alienation and mildish OCD. Surprising, paranoid, and studded with synths and strings, Dungeon Master is deeper than a cellar and blunter than a club — a shivering introduction to an artist who’s finally arrived. “I let my subconscious do the driving,” Gus admits, and as you listen to these 10 tunes, it’s difficult not to do the same: to sit back like a dog with a two-legged daydream; like a fisherwoman with her net; like a snowboarder with a mouth full of powder.

Photo Courtesy: Estée Preda