Car Seat Headrest - The Scholars

Car Seat Headrest are a band that truly appreciate the epic. After a long period of both pandemic and illness-enforced inactivity, they’ve returned with a 9-track rock opera that’s as gloriously grandiose as it is existential.

Part spiritual crisis, part cultural battlefield; ‘The Scholars’ is a dense sonic stew rife with texture, feeling, and (a light sprinkle of) literary pretension. The album is split into two parts, both revolving around the fictional Parnassus University within which a sort of spiritual war erupts: doubt versus clarity, tradition versus revolution. Throughout, it's the lyrics that take centre stage over anything else, with Toledo borrowing from literary classics like Shakespeare and Mozart to aid in an exploration of life, death, and rebirth.

Opener ‘CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You)’ is a fun start. A slow build, 8-minute long track that lets you know exactly what you’re in for: twists, turns, pits and troughs, embraced by power chords and energetic prog-rock. The delicate ‘Lady Gay Approximately’ is lovely, with a similar poetic ambience to fellow balladic tracks like ‘Equals’ and ‘Reality’. ‘The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)’ is heaps of fun despite its disaster-sounding title, and lead single ‘Gethsemane’ is another major highlight - a song in which the album’s duality comes to full focus: its slow-building tension and constant sonic shifts making for a perfect reflection of the album’s push and pull.

‘Planet Desperation’ is a tour de force of rock opera indulgence. Clocking in at nearly 20 minutes long, is it a little cheesy? Maybe. But is it a bold statement of artistic ambition? Absolutely. With all its different parts, the track is an unpredictable odyssey showcasing roaring guitars and masterful storytelling.

The Scholars is a meaty listen. It’s an album that commands attention - and rewards you with an emotional and philosophical journey that feels as timeless as the literary references that permeate it. Sometimes sprawling, sometimes disjointed, but consistently entertaining and, at points, genuinely moving. Car Seat Headrest truly embraced the epic here; and it’s paid off in spades.