By Gavin Miller, Web Services Coordinator
Car Seat Headrest can’t run anymore. After five years with no fresh material (besides an excellent 2023 live album), the band is reuniting on a tour and released a 70-minute rock opera along with it. The lore of the album runs deep, with “Gethsemane”—the story of a university student with magical healing abilities speaks to lead singer Will Toledo’s lasting health struggles. On “Gethsemane,” the lead single on Car Seat Headrest’s recent rock opera The Scholars, marked a triumphant return for the band, one that branched out into fresh directions.
A Unique Release
“Gethsemane” was released through the band’s online webquest—a game in which fans came together to complete puzzles, riddles, and trivia for song snippets. Once completed by fans, the single was released a couple of days later. Several changes were clear form the first couple minutes of the song’s extensive runtime: Toledo’s voice further matured, new rhythms and progressions were tested, and lyrically the song took on a mythology of its own universe.
In the first refrain of “Gethsemane,” Toledo repeats “Tabernacle” several times before plucky guitars and synths burst into the song. Just minutes later, however, the song is completely changed, with a rare falsetto and guitar riffs reminiscent of the band’s hit 2016 album Teens of Denial.
Don’t be fooled, though: this iteration of Car Seat Headrest has a lot of new flair to offer. “Gethsemane,” with its double digit runtime, is not what one would often expect from a lead single. Though, by the final repeat of the instantly iconic line “You can love again/If you try again,” it’s clear the band has hit their stride again.
The Scholars' Experience
Hearing “Gethsemane” in the wider context of The Scholars only adds to its appeal. Every song tells its own story in the context of a fictional school—Parnassus University—where all is not as it seems. Love, loss, death, and rebirth play out as the characters of the concept are thrust upon each other's destinies. Gethsemane is a centerpiece of this epic. Not only is it one of the catchiest songs on The Scholars, but each listen of it gives fans more to love. From the subtle scraping sounds starting the song off or the strained shouts of “You’re only wearing my skin!” in the background, each listen grows the impact of the lyrics.
The writing is refined enough to apply meaning outside of the conceptual world, however.Toledo sings at one point, “A series of simple patterns slowly/Build themselves into another song,” a line that could be self-referential, especially given that the band has not released new music for five years. The line seems to reference the natural process of songwriting mirroring the natural magic of the song’s narrator. Similarly, on another lead single “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man),” lyrics joke about starting a band and “los[ing] all touch with the real world.” For an album set in an alternative univeristy of magic and mischief, sometimes the album’s best lines land right at home.
Taking It On Tour
Car Seat Headrest is running limited shows from now until the end of the year. Luckily, Boston’s MGM Music Hall is included in the lineup. Get tickets, and—as the band has kindly asked—make sure to bring a mask. Some ongoing medical issues within the band are linked to long-term Covid symptoms, and concerts are a key spreader. Listen to “Gethsemane” and get tickets to hear it played live here!
Every Monday, our music staff brings you a new Pick of The Week, detailing some of our favorite songs. Check out our previous Picks of the Week here, and make sure to tune in to WERS 88.9FM!
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