Month: May 2025

Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in May. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.

Friday, May 2

• Andy Bell — Ten Crowns (Crown Recordings Limited)
• Black Honey Cult — Black Honey Cult (Heavy Psych Sounds)
• Blondshell — If You Asked for a Picture (Partisan Records)
• Briston Maroney — JIMMY (Atlantic)
• Car Seat Headrest — The Scholars (Matador Records)
• Carriers — Every Time I Feel Afraid (Brassland)
• Clem Snide — Oh Smokey (Cloverdale Records)
• Club Night — Joy Coming Down (Tiny Engines)
• Eric Church — Evangeline vs. The Machine (UMG)
• Esther Rose — Want (New West Records)
• The Flower Kings — LOVE (InsideOutMusic)
• Gentle Giant — Playing The Fool: The Complete Live Experience (Chrysalis)
• Hardy — Country! EP (Big Loud Records)
• James Krivchenia — Performing Belief (Planet Mu)
• Josh Groban — Gems (Reprise)
• Key Glock — Glockaveli (Republic)
• Lael Neale — Altogether Stranger (Sub Pop Records)
• Låpsley — I’m a Hurricane and I’m a Woman in Love (Her Own Recordings)
• Lights — A6 (Virgin)
• Lucius — Lucius (Fantasy Records)
• Maddie & Tae — Love & Light (UMG)
• Mei Semones — Animaru (Bayonet Records)
• Model/Actriz — Pirouette (True Panther)
• Nightfall — Children of Eve (Season of Mist)
• OMB Peezy & FBLManny — OverKrash (Overkill Entertainment/FBL Entertainment/Blac Noize!/ Hitmaker Music Group)
• Personality Cult — Dilated (Dirtnap Records)
• Pet Symmetry — Big Symmetry (Storm Chasers LTD/Asian Man Records)
• Puddle of Mudd — Kiss the Machine (Pavement Entertainment)
• Pup — Who Will Look After The Dogs? (Rise Records)
• Pyramids — Pythagoras (The Flenser)
• RÜFÜS DU SOL — Inhale / Exhale Remixed (Reprise Records)
• Sally Potter — ANATOMY (Bella Union)
• Samantha Crain — Gumshoe (Real Kind Records)
• Sextile — yes, please. (Sacred Bones Records)
• Suzanne Vega — Flying With Angels (Cooking Vinyl)
• Teether and Kuya Neil — YEARN IV (Chapter Music)
• Yung Lean — Jonatan (AWAL)
• Yusuf / Cat Stevens — Saturnight: Live From Tokyo (Cat-O-Log Records)

Friday, May 9

• Adult Mom — Natural Causes (Epitaph)
• Alien Boy — You Wanna Fade? (Get Better Records)
• Alien Chicks — Forbidden Fruit EP (Hideous Mink Records/SO Recordings)
• The Amazons — 21st Century Fiction (Nettwerk)
• Arcade Fire — Pink Elephant (Arcade Fire Music)
• Arlo McKinley — Live at the Burl (Oh Boy Records)
• Bibi Club — Feu de garde (les braises) (Secret City Records)
• billy woods — GOLLIWOG (Backwoodz Studioz)
• Blake Shelton — For Recreational Use Only (Wheelhouse Records)
• Blossoms — Honeymoon Deluxe (ODD SK RECORDINGS)
• Brandon — Before You Go (Secretly Canadian)
• Brandon Woody — For The Love Of It All (Blue Note)
• Butthole Surfers — Live at the Leather Fly (Sunset Blvd Records)
• Candlemass — Black Star EP (Napalm Records Handels GmbH)
• Chapterhouse — White House Demos EP (Sonic Cathedral)
• Counting Crows — Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets! (BMG)
• Cuco — Ridin’ (Interscope)
• Dan Wilson — good night, los angeles (Ballroom Recordings)
• Deradoorian — Ready For Heaven (Fire Records)
• Dope Lemon — Golden Wolf (BMG)
• The Head and the Heart — Aperture (UMG)
• Hippie Death Cult — Live at the Star Theater (Heavy Psych Sounds)
• I’m With Her — Wild and Clear and Blue (Rounder Records)
• Jack Van Cleaf — JVC (Dualtone Music Group)
• Kaleo — Mixed Emotions (Atlantic)
• Kali Uchis — Sincerely, (UMG)
• Kara-Lis Coverdale — From Where You Came (Smalltown Supersound)
• The Kooks — Never/Know (Lonely Cat)
• Laibach — Alamut (Mute)
• Leftover Salmon — Let’s Party About It (Compass Records)
• Little Feat — Strike the Band (Hot Tomato Productions)
• Maia Friedman — Goodbye Long Winter Shadow (Last Gang Records)
• Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke — Tall Tales (Warp)
• Marren Morris — Dreamsicle (Columbia Records)
• mclusky — the world is still here and so are we (Ipecac Recordings)
• Nellie McKay — Gee Whiz: The Get Away From Me Demos (Hungry Mouse Records)
• Nils Frahm — Night (Leiter)
• No Windows — The Great Traitor EP (Fat Possum)
• Peach Pit — Magpie (Expansion Pack) (Columbia Records)
• Peter Murphy — Silver Shade (Metropolis Records)
• PinkPantheress — Fancy That! (Warner Records)
• Preoccupations — Ill at Ease (Born Losers)
• Provoker — Mausoleum (YEAR0001)
• Rilo Kiley — That’s How We Chose To Remember It (Saddle Creek)
• Ringdown — Lady on the Bike (Nonesuch)
• Skinny Lister — Songs From the Yonder (Xtra Mile Recordings)
• Sleep Token — Even In Arcadia (RCA Records)
• Spacey Jane — If That Makes Sense (Concord)
• TETRACH — The Ugly Side of Me (Napalm Records)
• TVOD — Party Time (Mothland)
• The Wonder Years — Burst & Decay Vol. III (Loneliest Place On Earth/Hopeless Records)

Friday, May 16

• Alexandra Savior — Beneath The Lilypad (RCA Records)
• Animé — 13 Months of Sunshine (10K Projects)
• Arm’s Length — There’s a Whole World Out There (Pure Noise Records)
• Avicii — Avicii Forever (Positiva)
• Barenaked Ladies — In Flight — Carry On EP (BNL Entertainment)
• Bury Tomorrow — Will You Haunt Me, With That Same Patience (Music For Nations)
• The Callous Daoboys — I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven (MNRK Records)
• Cautious Clay — The Hours: Morning (Fantasy Records)
• Charlie Musselwhite — Look Out Highway (Forty Below Records)
• Damiano David — Funny Little Fears (y Music Italy/Arista Records)
• Dan Mangan — Natural Light (Arts & Crafts)
• The Dandy Warhols — Rock Remaker EP (Sunset Blvd Records/Beat The World)
• DRAM & Ellis Quinn — LEORPIO (Create Music Group)
• Ekkstacy — Forever (UnitedMasters)
• Ezra Furman — Goodbye Small Head (Bella Union)
• Friendship — Caveman Wakes Up (Merge Records)
• Grails — Miracle Music (Temporary Residence)
• Jin — Echo (BIGHIT Music)
• Jon Lindsay — Big Stage (Daffin Records)
• José James — 1978: Revenge of The Dragon (Rainbow Blonde Records)
• Ken Pomeroy — Cruel Joke (Rounder Records)
• Kilo Kish — Negotiations EP (Kisha Soundscapes + Audio)
• Lido Pimienta — La Belleza (Anti)
• Matt Maltese — Hers (Tonight Matthew)
• M(h)aol — Something Soft (Merge Records)
• Miso Extra — Earcandy (Transgressive)
• MØ — Plæygirl (Sony Music)
• Morgan Wallen — I’m the Problem (Big Loud Records)
• Mourning [A] BLKstar — Flowers for the Living (Don Giovanni Records)
• NYTT LAND — Songs of the Shaman (Prophecy Productions)
• Pelican — Flickering Resonance (Run For Cover Records)
• Pretty Rude — Ripe (SideOneDummy)
• Rico Nasty — Lethal (Atlantic)
• Shanti Celeste — Romance (Method 808 x Peach Discs)
• Sleep Theory — Afterglow (Epitaph)
• Slow Joy — A Joy So Slow At Times I Don’t Think It’s Coming (Mick Music)
• Sofi Tukker — butter (Sofi Tukker)
• Spill Tab — Angie (Because Music)
• Tarja — Circus Life (earMUSIC)
• Thor & Friends — Heathen Spirituals (Joyful Noise Recordings)
• Triathalon — RIP (Lex Records)
• Tune-Yards — Better Dreaming (4AD)
• Tyler Braden — devil and a prayer (Warner Music Nashville)
• Windser — Windser (Bright Antenna Records)
• Youth Code — Yours, With Malice EP (Sumerian Records)
• Yuno — Blest (Sub Pop)

Friday, May 23

• CDSM — Convertible Hearse (Mothland & Exag’ Records)
• Charmer — Downpour (Counter Intuitive)
• Cola Boyy — Quit to Play Chess (Record Makers)
• Dirty Nice — Planet Weekend (Chiverin)
• Florry — Sounds Like… (Dear Life Records)
• Home Is Where — Hunting Season (Wax Bodega)
• Howard Jones — Piano Composed (Cherry Red)
• Joe Jonas — Music For People Who Believe In Love (Republic Records)
• Lou Tides — Autostatic! (Switch Hit Records)
• Marc Ribot — Map of a Blue City (New West Records)
• Nymphlord — Rough Blue Blanket EP (LAUREN RECORDS)
• Pachyman — Another Place (ATO Records)
• Resavoir & Matt Gold — Horizon (International Anthem)
• Rich Brian — Where Is My Head? (88rising Records)
• Sedona — Getting Into Heaven (Sedona)
• Smerz — Big City Life (escho)
• Sophia Kennedy — Squeeze Me (City Slang)
• Sparks — MAD! (Transgressive Records)
• Sports Team — Boys These Days (Bright Antenna & Distiller Records)
• The SteelDrivers — Outrun (Sun Label Group)
• Stereolab — Instant Holograms On Metal Film (Duophonic UHF Disks)
• Taj Mahal + Keb’ Mo’ — Room On The Porch (UMG)
• Thalia Zedek Band — The Boat Outside Your Window (Thrill Jockey)
• These New Puritans — Crooked Wing (Domino)
• VC Pines — Viole(n)t Colour EP (Theory Records)
• When Rivers Meet — Addicted to You (One Road Records)
• Witchcraft — IDAG (Heavy Psych Sounds)

Friday, May 30

• Aesop Rock — Black Hole Superette (Rhymesayers)
• Anderson East — Worthy (Rounder Records)
• Ben Kweller — Cover the Mirrors (The Noise Company)
• The Budos Band — VII (Diamond West Records)
• Caroline — Caroline 2 (Rough Trade)
• Civic — Chrome Dipped (ATO)
• Clamm — Serious Acts (Meat Machine)
• Demise of Love — Demise of Love EP (Domino)
• Faun Fables — Counterclockwise (Drag City)
• Garbage — Let All That We Imagine Be The Light (BMG)
• Gordi — Like Plasticine (Mushroom Music)
• Grace Potter — Medicine (Hollywood Records)
• guccihighwaters — DEATH BY DESIRE (Epitaph)
• The Haunted — Songs of Last Resort (Century Media Records)
• Illuminati Hotties — Nickel on the Fountain Floor EP (Hopeless Records)
• Kathryn Joseph — WE WERE MADE PREY. (Rock Action)
• Matthew Young — Undercurrents (Drag City)
• Miley Cyrus — Something Beautiful (Columbia Records)
• The Minus 5 — Oar On, Penelope! (Yep Roc)
• Miynt — Rain Money Dogs (B3SCI)
• Moonrisers — Harsh & Exciting (Easy Eye Sound)
• MRCY — Volume 2 (Dead Oceans)
• Mt. Joy — Hope We Have Fun (Futures Music Group)
• Obongjayar — PARADISE NOW (September Recordings)
• Planning for Burial — It’s Closeness, It’s Easy (Flenser)
• Preston Woolsey — bubba (Rose Garden)
• Shura — Got Too Sad For My Friends (Play It Again Sam)
• Slaney Bay — The Long Way Home EP (Slaney Bay)
• Swans — Birthing (Mute)
• Tash Sultana — Return to the Roots EP (Sony Music Australia)
• Ty Segall — Possession (Drag City)
• Watchhouse — Rituals (Thirty Tigers)
• yeule — Evangelic Girl is a Gun (Ninja Tune)

The guiding principle for John Mulaney’s musical guests on his Netflix talk show Everybody’s Live seems to be “why not.”

Why not have Kim Gordon and Kim Deal perform together as The Kims? Why not let Mannequin Pussy play on a church-themed set? Why not let a violinist do his thing in the same episode where comedian Stavros Halkias asked the former acting solicitor general of the United States if he masturbates?

It’s a good show, and in the latest episode, The Velvet Underground legend John Cale was paired up with arena headliner Maggie Rogers to sing “Shark-Shark,” a fun song from his 2024 album Poptical Illusion. Why? Why not?

Cale and Rogers also sat down for an interview with Mulaney. “Hip-hop is the new avant-garde,” Cale said. “You find so many strange and wonderful things are going on in the recording department.”

Elsewhere in the episode (which also featured Molly Shannon, Marc Maron, Ronny Chieng, and anesthesiologist Dr. Emily Methangkool to discuss if major surgery can be fun), Mulaney finally answered the question that’s been on everyone’s mind: What if Seinfeld was Phish? It would look something like this.

You can watch John Cale and Maggie Rogers on Everybody’s Live here.

Mount Rushmore has become so much more than faces of dead presidents carved into a giant rock: For decades, the US landmark has sparked countless thought exercises, generating debates about which people are at the tops of their respective fields. There’s been some Mount Rushmore talk lately with a viral example highlighting white rappers, but now Lil Wayne is taking a different approach, by crafting his dream football team using only rappers.

This went down on a recent episode of The Travis Hunter Show (above), where Hunter asked Wayne to pick a seven-person team. His first selection was Jay-Z (as XXL notes): “He on the squad. Jay on the squad. I don’t know if he coach or something. We need a veteran.”

Drake’s on the team, too: “We need a proven star, a proven superstar. That would be my man Drizzy, Aubrey Graham, ’cause he could play both sides of the ball now. He could sing and rap, you know what I mean? He can sing.”

Jadakiss was highlighted next, with Wayne saying, “Now we need somebody that can move, so we going with…. Ohh, you say rappers though, right? I’m going with… now this ain’t the mover. This ain’t the guy that can move or nothing like that, but I’m going with ‘Kiss. I’m going with ‘Kiss. I think you see ‘Kiss in that back field and get scared, yeah. I think you be like, ‘I know that ain’t Aubrey and ‘Kiss. What Jay doing back there?,’ you know what I mean?”

His list also included Nicki Minaj, Notorious B.I.G., J. Cole, and Eminem, as quarterback. He also named Missy Elliott as his first player off the bench.

It hasn’t been that long since a new Kid Cudi album, with Insano (Nitro Mega) arriving a bit over a year ago in February 2024. Now, though, he’s starting to roll out a new project.

Yesterday (April 30), Cudi tweeted a link to pre-save “Neverland,” which he dubbed the “first single from my new album.” Cudi’s website currently shows a countdown that ends on May 9, a Friday, which is presumably when the song will be released.

Cudi excitedly told fans about the project back in August 2024. On X (formerly Twitter), he wrote, “Im so hype. I got my next album finished and I really cant wait for yall to get a taste. Maybe this Fall?” He added in another tweet, “Im not f*ckin around!! Its been awhile since Ive switched it up and tried something new, and I feel confident u will love the direction.”

He also wrote, “My psychic said 13 was a lucky number for me. And this is my 13th album. I can honestly say ur faces will melt and ur hearts will be filled w happiness.” He added in another tweet, “im not slowin down anytime soon. Im inspired. Turnin 40 flipped a switch in my mind and heart. The focus is crazy. Lets see whatelse I can accomplish w this magic.”

Zombies, citizen detectives, a soap-opera-loving android, and comedy, comedy, comedy. That’s what May has in store for bingewatchers who have already exhausted last month’s supply of undead bounty hunters and revolution seekers. This month, however, a certain apocalypse survivor is reunited with his most cherished friend, so feel free to swan dive into this television abyss.

In no particular order, here are the must-see shows for May 2025.

Murderbot: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series 5/16)

Nobody can deny that Alexander Skarsgård is objectively sexy, but here, he’s portraying an unsexy robot (good luck with that) who would really prefer to bingewatch futuristic soap operas while being taxed with protecting and serving idiotic humans. So far, the fan response (from The Murderbot Diaries readers) is that the above trailer nails the tone and spirit of the source material. And because David Dastmalchian is in every cool project these days (including Dexter: Resurrection), you know he is in this, too. Whew.

Poker Face: Season 2 (Peacock series 5/8)

Natasha Lyonne is doing Columbo-inspired things again while reeling in “a truly gonzo parade of guest stars” this season. They include John Mulaney, Alia Shawkat, Cynthia Erivo, Katie Holmes, Giancarlo Esposito, Haley Joel Osment, Melanie Lynskey, Taylor Schilling, Justin Theroux, and Kumail Nanjiani. If anybody had guessed five years ago that Lyonne would be collaborating with Rian Johnson in such an addictive way, would you have believed? Fortunately, we can thank Russian Doll (and Oatmeal the cat and maybe The Last Jedi) for bearing this mystery-solving fruit.

Sirens: Season 1 (Netflix series 5/22)

Another darkly comedic mystery series is upon us, this time starring Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon, Meghann Fahy, and Milly Alcock, who portray screwed-up characters on a Labor Day weekend holiday within murkier waters than expected at a luxury island destination. The project will explore class, power, and an attempted intervention when one character cannot seem to get enough of either of those concepts, and if you didn’t already guess from the title, the story will take cues from Greek mythology.

The Walking Dead: Dead City: Season 2 (AMC/AMC+ series 5/4)

Remember how Maggie screwed Negan over in the most recent season finale? Well, she’s apparently having second thoughts, but Negan has already reacquainted himself with an old friend, so get ready for Crazy Negan to fully come back. In other words, Maggie’s rescue mission doesn’t go as planned because Negan doesn’t seem to need rescuing. He’s got Lucille 2.0 on his side, and his showman self is back in control with his former “eeny meeny miny moe” chant back in menacing action. Kim Coates and Dascha Polanco also join the franchise full of hot walker action.

The Chi: Season 7 (Showtime series 5/18)

Lena Waithe’s no-holds-barred slice at Chicago will soon return for, in the words of Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, more of the this show’s customary “authentic and unflinching narratives in The Chi resonate deeply, offering a powerful lens into both the complexities of life in Chicago as well as the Black experience in America.”

Nine Perfect Strangers: Season 2 (Hulu series 5/21)

Nicole Kidman found some spare moments to revisit her mysterious guru character, Masha, who is now selling her brand of shady wellness at a fancy resort in the Swiss Alps. David E. Kelley cannot seem to miss, so expect this new cast (including Christine Baranski, Murray Bartlett, Mark Strong, Annie Murphy, and Henry Golding) to be going through it while drugged in the interest of “therapy” while potentially murderous shenanigans go down.

Rick and Morty: Season 8 (Adult Swim series 5/25)

Dan Harmon’s brainchild will be delving deeper into the standalone vs. serialized struggle this year while also adding to canon in significant ways, but don’t worry, those classic adventures will remain top priority. As they should.

Conan O’Brien Must Go: Season 2 (Max series 5/8)

Conan might be the most fitting awards show host of the decade, but he’s now trotting around the earth when he’s not podcasting (via his Needs A Friend show). He’s no Anthony Bourdain, of course, and he never claimed as much, but this show has already been renewed for a third season, so he’ll be taking in local cuisine while surprising fans for the foreseeable future.

The Four Seasons: Season 1 (Netflix series 5/1)

This tried and true “couples trip”-type formula receives a new permutation in this series, which sees a couple divorce and mess up the “quarterly weekend getaways” dynamic of their long-running friendship with two other couples. Tina Fey co-created and stars in this series along with Steve Carrell and Colman Domingo, so at least you know that they filled the show with a stellar cast who will go several extra miles for both “funny” and “heartwarming.” (And if this trailer doesn’t simulate a mini-gut punch in you over how marriages can slowly crumble, consider yourself lucky.)

Love, Death & Robots (Netflix series 5/15)

Deadpool director Tim Miller, Mindhunter executive producer David Fincher, and supervising director Jennifer Yuh Nelson are back with another editing of bleeding-edge animation shorts, this time with stories about “dinosaur gladiators, messianic cats,” and “string-puppet rock stars.” No matter what, you’re sure to find experiences here that will both please and offend, so dive into the abyss, y’all.

Dept. Q (Netflix series 5/29)

The Queen’s Gambit won’t receive a second season, but writer and director Scott Frank is here with a followup show about a brilliant, sarcastic cop, Carl, who simply cannot get along with his colleagues. After he is exiled to a different unit, Carl builds his own support gang and takes on cold cases with much more success than expected. And as The Night Agent viewers can attest, basement banishments can really backfire on authority.

Criminal Minds: Evolution: Season 18 (Paramount+ series 5/8)

You might be wondering why this series, especially concerning a double-digits season, appears on this list? Well, Matthew Gray Gubler is finally returning to the franchise as Spencer Reid. Granted, he will only appear in one episode, but that’s plenty enough, and Gubler will also soon be starring in his own series, Einstein, in which he portrays the ultimate academic nepo baby.

It’s been seven years since Cardi B’s debut album, Invasion Of Privacy. But don’t blame her for the delay on a follow-up: it’s her guests’ fault.

“I really need these f*cking features,” Cardi B said on Instagram Live this week, according to Billboard. “And it’s like I’m not really trying to press or go crazy on these artists because I love them down. But it’s like, come on now! I need that! I need that right now! Helloooo! Y’all don’t want to miss this opportunity. I’ll sing this sh*t myself! But I really need y’all and I need y’all to hurry up and I love y’all. I feel like nobody want to miss being on this album.”

The “Put It On Da Floor Again” rapper and You super fan previously teased that “the features on my album are really good,” continuing, “I don’t have a lot of features, but I’m working with artists, some that I have worked with before and some that I haven’t worked with before. And the ones that I have not worked with before, I feel like it’s gonna really, really surprise y’all.”

She added, “It’s such a vibe. I’m 100-percent confident with this album. I just don’t think what I got is out there.”

The news Lorde fans have been waiting for finally arrived yesterday (April 30), when the singer announced Virgin, her new album. Lorde has since spoken about it a bit more, revealing that Charli XCX’s Brat influenced her mindset while making it.

As NME notes, in an interview with BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, Lorde said:

“Brat coming out really gave me a kick in a lot of ways. It forced me to further define what I was doing because Charli had so masterfully defined everything about Brat and I knew that what I was doing was very distinct to that. When a peer throws the gauntlet down like that, you’re like ‘OK, yeah, we’ve gotta pick it up,’ I’ve spoken to a lot of peers who’ve all had the same feelings. It’s very sick and I’m so grateful to her.”

Speaking more directly about the “Girl, So Confusing” remix she appeared on, she added, “Brat came out and she was doing that from the other side of the coin almost and doing the remix together and meeting her in that place of rugged vulnerability and cracking open the thing. People responded really well to that. I was like, ‘OK, cool, this is a good thing to be doing.’”

Virgin is out 6/27 via Republic Records. Find more information here.

Not long before he died, Kurt Cobain gave an interview to Rolling Stone in which he lamented, among other things, that Nevermind was packed with too many great songs. “What I’ve realized is that you only need a couple of catchy songs on an album, and the rest can be bullshit Bad Company rip-offs, and it doesn’t matter,” he said. “If I was smart, I would have saved most of the songs off Nevermind and spread them out over a 15-year period.”

I think about that quote a lot, especially when I’m listening to an album by an artist or band that is several albums’ deep into a career. For Cobain, there was no choice — his favorite records delivered one top-tier track after another, and he was determined to give Nirvana fans the same level of quality. But there is something to the idea that a songwriter might only have so many great songs in him, and therefore it might be wise to be judicious with those tunes over the long haul.

Will Toledo definitely did not think that way as a young artist. Between 2010 and 2014, he put out 11 albums on Bandcamp under the name Car Seat Headrest, when he was barely out of high school. Those releases charted his rapid growth in real time, tracing his ascent from talented novice to budding virtuoso. By the time he signed with Matador in 2015, he was already an online cult hero. The following year, Car Seat Headrest released their best album and commercial breakthrough, Teens Of Denial. By then, not only was Toledo prolific in terms of albums, but he also had a habit of tucking three or four good song ideas inside a single composition, turning each number into a mini suite of melodic genius.

Since Teens Of Denial, Car Seat Headrest’s output has slowed. Work on 2020’s Making A Door Less Open was interrupted by Toledo’s decision to re-record (and, in some instances, rework) the most beloved of the Bandcamp era albums, 2011’s Twin Fantasy. And then five more years passed before this week’s release of The Scholars, a delay caused in part by Toledo’s bout with Long COVID.

Those health issues aren’t Toledo’s fault, obviously. But there is a broader sense that Car Seat Headrest’s recent work pales next to the earlier albums. The songs aren’t as grabby, and the melodies flow at a slower pace. At the same time, perhaps to compensate for this creative stagnation, Car Seat Headrest albums have gotten a lot more elaborate. Making A Door Less Open — which ranks as one of the more fascinating artifacts of the COVID lockdown era, at least from the indie-rock world — was both an attempt to make a “bigger”-sounding Car Seat Headrest record, and also a stab at post-modern “anti-celebrity” commentary. In one infamous interview, Toledo donned a mask and presented himself as an alter-ego named Trait. As for the album, it was released in three slightly different versions for vinyl, CD, and digital formats. With their alternate mixes and rejiggered tracklists, these competing iterations felt more like the product of indecision than a thoughtful artistic choice.

The Scholars has been marketed as a return to form. But while it takes a decidedly different path than Making A Door Less Open, it ends up in a similar place. For all its conceptual wonkiness — and the semi-disastrous decision to lead with the worst Car Seat Headrest ever as a single —Making A Door Less Open had some worthwhile songs that expanded the band’s record-collector rock palate with hooky electronic pop. And The Scholars, a rock opera with an impenetrable plot, packs several perfectly enjoyable rock tunes in the first half hour. The problem is the next 40 minutes, which also happen to be the heart of this often-frustrating record.

In case this needs to be said: I am a fan of rock operas. And I am a fan of contemporary rock bands making rock operas. I was excited when I heard Car Seat Headrest was launching one. Especially since it’s clear that Toledo and his bandmates — who share songwriting credit on The Scholars, significant development in not wholly positive ways — had a lot of fun with the project. The concept is outlined in knowingly silly detail in the liner notes, starting with the supposed basis being “an unfinished and unpublished poem written by my great-great-great-great-grandfather, the Archbishop Guillermo Guadalupe del Toledo.” The lyrics double as dialogue for a large cast of characters, including Deveraux — “the son of a backwater religious conservative” who “struggles with his sexuality and sets off to seek his own fortunes at the nearby Clown College” — featured on one of the album’s best and punchiest songs.

The key to any successful rock opera is the ability to convey what’s potentially good about a rock opera (self-aware grandiosity and genuine dramatic thrills) without getting bogged down in what’s potentially bad (caring too much about the dumb story you’ve created). Above all, the focus needs to be on the songs — they should make sense as a unified piece without needing to make sense of a unified piece (if that makes sense).

On the first five songs, Car Seat Headrest pulls that off, I think. The opening track, “CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You)” is the platonic ideal of a CSH tune: Pete Townshend power chords, Ric Ocasek pop smarts, Beach Boys harmonies, a Will Toledo vocal that manages to feel uplifting without remaining completely deadpan. “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)” is another success, bouncing along with a start-stop guitar riff that quickly transitions to a giddy acoustic strum. And “Equals” demonstrates that the radio-pleasing pop discipline of Making A Door Less Open has been further honed.

Where things take a turn are the next three tracks, which take up the bulk of the record, including the first single, the 11-minute “Gethsemane.” Not that song length is necessarily the issue here. Long songs are not unusual for a Car Seat Headrest record — one of the very best CSH tracks, “Beach-Life-In-Death,” is more than 12 minutes on the original Twin Fantasy. (And it’s one minute longer on the 2018 version.) But “Beach-Life-In-Death” needs to be that long. It has the epic drama — and the volume of high quality, pieced-together song fragments — to justify it.

“Gethsemane” starts promisingly, with pounding drums and stirring organ fills building to what promises to be an overwhelming, face-melting crescendo. But after about eight minutes, a feeling of restlessness sets in, like when you’re two hours and 12 CGI fights scenes into a three-hour Marvel movie. The two other long songs — “Reality” (11:14) and “Planet Desperation” (18:53) — prompt the same “how much of this left anyway?” feeling. Toledo and his bandmates apparently shaped the songs on The Scholars out of jams, and you feel it on these extended tracks, which sound like rough drafts that need a few rounds of rigorous editing. There are good bits scattered throughout — the fiery conclusion to “Reality,” the piano ballad section of “Planet Desperation” — but also long stretches where nothing much exciting is happening.

The problem, in other words, is that those songs don’t enough “song” in them. And that issue is not going to be solved by extra conceptual baggage. I can appreciate the theatrical flair of doing an interview in a “Darth Vaderish” mask. And I love a good rock opera. But you know what’s better than either of those things? An album that is loaded, top to bottom, with quality tunes. And that, unfortunately, hasn’t been the project of Car Seat Headrest for almost a decade now.

The Scholars is out 5/2 via Matador. Find more information here.