Car Seat Headrest - 'The Scholars': From Scholar to Scholars

Car Seat Headrest is a Virginia based band formed through the work of frontman Will Toledo who named the band for his preference to record vocals in the backseat of his car versus the walls of a studio. If you’re already a fan of Car Seat Headrest, you already knew this, and you may not be surprised to know that you’ll love this album as it joins your collection. The Scholars has that classic feel compared to the other albums, while also challenging the facets of the band’s identity with a rock-opera focused vibe.

In true Car Seat Headrest fashion, this album dives deep into interpersonal relationships. Toledo found inspiration while he was sick during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a way, the time locked away gave him new perspective to additional layers of the band, spiritual practices that reflected in the bonds made around him, and encouraged him to pour more intentionality into his music. Personally, I love a take on a genre that feels both nostalgic and original, and you can see that through the influence of Rock Opera and something uniquely Bowie to give this album a unique sound as you follow the individual epics of each song. My favorite of the album was definitely “Planet Desperation”, and while I’m not sure if intentional, it carries the kind of high energy yearning for connection I see in every telling of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yes, the song is almost 20 minutes long, but the way in which the audience can find connection to the music through a shared desire to find connection somewhere in the universe carries its own unique beauty. The album as a whole feels like a telling of the human experience: do we not all yearn for more, seek answers to the unknown, and find comfort in the spiritual energies of our universe that feel bigger and more wise than ourselves?

I think this album shares Toledo’s own yearn for the pieces of Car Seat Headrest to come together. In a twist for the future, Car Seat Headrest is no longer Toledo's solo work, but a fully realized band. I think the desire to seek more, whatever that may be, and eventually finding peace once you're connected to it reflects the epics of the album, the band’s own journey to find themselves, and transforming into something that feels both nostalgic to Toledo's solo projects and original in the sound of a found band that communicates through their love of music. I’m excited for the future and feel that The Scholars perfectly encapsulated the Epic of Car Seat Headrest.

Rating 4.5/5