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An epic reprise from the indie rock collectives’ first in five years with The Scholars – an ambitious 9-track rock opera magnum opus.

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When the band released their fourth Making a Door Less Open in May of 2020, little did they know that amongst a trifle of off-handed gigs post-lockdown, this would be the last thing the band would do for five years. Like many bands, Car Seat Headrest became a casualty of a global pandemic forcing a pivotal life source to halt. An excess of inactivity, the band became dormant in outlaying new material. We found many creatives, artists and collectives pigeon-holed in the same bracket, not as a labour of love – but more for survival. But where bands starting to shift towards normality, Car Seat Headrest almost took to the fallout worse.

Careened off a cliff by the pandemic, Will Toledo – founding member and arguably, pioneer of the indie-rock group – took to meditation following an extended period of illness and tour cancellations during the latter stages of 2022, where he struggled to regain his health.

Now, almost from the brink of no return, the astute four-piece originally formed in Virginia are back with their redemption arc: The Scholars.

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A new record in tow and performing live once again (Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle in June of 2024) for the first time in two years, Car Seat Headrest have shaped up a tumultuous 2025..

Wrought with indie-rock revival and musings of the band eager to jettison off the talk of the town, their upcoming record The Scholars may be their first studio record in five years – but it’s also come to be a spiritual rebirth for the group. Drawn up from the hiatus resulting in Toledo’s contemplation, The Scholars feels like a victory lap. Almost making up for lost time, the group’s fifth is possibly the group at their most assured sound-wise. A magnificent rock opera concept record set in a fictional college campus, it illuminates a similar pathing to what the band themselves have gone through in recent years: life, death and rebirth.

During their of time of disappearance, a new generation seemingly fell into the groups’ back catalogue. As their coming-of-age classics in rumpus records Teens of Denial and Twin Fantasy underwent more spins than expected in recent years, the bands’ desire to get on the album wagon once again has never been at its most strongest.

Inspired by an apocryphal poem by “Archbishop Guillermo Guadalupe del Toledo,” and featuring character designs from Toledo’s counterpart cartoonist Cate Wurtz, the album focuses on the yearning and spiritual crisis of the titular Scholars – an idea pulled from the classical rosters: the explosive characters charted on campus range from the doubt-filled playwright Beolco to Devereaux, a person born to religious conservatives who still yearns for that understanding beyond their own self.

Sonically, the music tentatively draws from classic rock story song cycles such as The Who’s Tommy and David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, two operatic powerhouses that remain as portraits in terms of concept and delivery.

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From big operatic opener CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You) with more unexpected turns than a Christopher Nolan epic – not to mention that addictive piano hook that lays out the adventure ahead – to the nearly 19-minute long Planet Desperation with some of the most robust song design to date, it goes without saying that this next record isn’t just to fill the numbers. It’s a statement of intent, all from initial groundwork set in place more than three years ago. It wouldn’t have been right for them to just send out another indie filler made up of the same song components.

Devereaux, the second chapter in the new journey, is a subtle nod to their yesteryears as it chimes in to that classic ’60s folk pop that they haven’t lost along the way. Gethemane – the bands’ first single release a month ago – is a 11-minute swirl of kraut-rock yearn which is at the heart of the album. The transition is one of free will majesty as Toledo swoons, “I can do whatever the fuck I want when I want to / You’re only wearing my skin.” It’s not an indie-rock number in the traditional sense. Nor is it the usual Car Seat Headrest we’ve grown accustomed to. And that’s okay – this is not the same Car Seat Headrest that we heard on their last record five years ago. They’ve undergone more changes than we care to mention – with one member in particular undergoing changes more than just physically – but spiritually too.

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A redeeming band with an operatic bark to its name, Car Seat Headrest swim up to the surface, take a deep breath and deliver an album worth waiting for.

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