Car Seat Headrest have laid out plans for ambitious album ‘The Scholars’.
The record finds the group navigating the post-pandemic era, unexpected viral fame, and new modes of working, blending some of their most visceral work to date, with some of their most complex.
Out on May 2nd, ‘The Scholars’ takes lyrical cues from Shakespeare to Mozart to classical opera; loosely a concept album, it contains the DNA of The Who’s ‘Tommy’ for example.
The record boasts some of their longest tracks yet, with the nearly 19-minute long ‘Planet Desperation’ acting as a centre-piece.
Produced by singer Will Toledo, it finds Car Seat Headrest – completed by lead guitarist Ethan Ives, drummer Andrew Katz, and bassist Seth Dalby – storming into new vistas.
New single ‘Gethsemane’ is out now – a bold, unrelenting 11-minute journey into sound, it’s also accompanied by a short film directed by Andrew Wonder.
Discussing the song, Will Toledo comments…
“Rosa studies at the medical school of Parnassus University. After an experience bringing a medically deceased patient back to life, she begins to regain powers suppressed since childhood, of healing others by absorbing their pain. Each night, instead of dreams, she encounters the raw pain and stories of the souls she touches throughout the day. Reality blurs, and she finds herself taken deep into secret facilities buried beneath the medical school, where ancient beings that covertly reign over the college bring forth their dark plans.”
Tune in now.
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‘The Scholars’ is available to pre-order now. It will be available on Classic 2x LP vinyl with gatefold packaging and a 28-page booklet featuring illustrations and lyrics, Deluxe with added bonus CD featuring 19 unheard demos, jams and outtakes, and Super Deluxe with added 2x limited edition coloured vinyl discs, each copy numbered with stamped gold foil.
Tracklisting:
1. CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You)
2. Devereaux
3. Lady Gay Approximately
4. The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)
5. Equals
6. Gethsemane
7. Reality
8. Planet Desperation
9. True/False Lover
Photo Credit: Carlos Cruz
