Car Seat Headrest, one of the defining indie bands of the 2010s, have announced their first album in five years.
The Scholars is a self-described rock opera that’s set at a fictional college campus, Parnassus University, and follows the “students and staff whose travails illuminate a loose narrative of life, death, and rebirth.”
The rest of the logline reads:
Rosa studies at the medical school of Parnassus University. After an experience bringing a medically deceased patient back to life, she begins to regain powers suppressed since childhood, of healing others by absorbing their pain. Each night, instead of dreams, she encounters the raw pain and stories of the souls she touches throughout the day. Reality blurs, and she finds herself taken deep into secret facilities buried beneath the medical school, where ancient beings that covertly reign over the college bring forth their dark plans.
Car Seat Headrest — which consists of singer Will Toledo, lead guitarist Ethan Ives, drummer Andrew Katz, and bassist Seth Dalby — have also shared the album’s epic first single, the nearly 11-minutes-long “Gethsemane.” Above, you can watch the track’s cinematic video, directed by Andrew Wonder.
Also check out The Scholars‘ album cover and tracklist, as well as Car Seat Headrest’s upcoming tour dates, below.
Car Seat Headrest’s The Scholars Album Cover Artwork
Car Seat Headrest’s The Scholars Tracklist
1. “CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You)”
2. “Devereaux”
3. “Lady Gay Approximately”
4. “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)”
5. “Equals”
6. “Gethsemane”
7. “Reality”
8. “Planet Desperation”
9. “True/False Lover”
Car Seat Headrest’s 2025 Tour Dates: The Scholars Tour
05/16 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
06/07 — New York, NY @ Governors Ball
06/28 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
07/12 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
07/26 — Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed (Fairgrounds)
08/08 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek
09/12 — Philadelphia, PA @ Highmark Skyline at the Mann Center
09/27 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall
11/01 — Oakland, CA @ The Fox
The Scholars is out May 2 via Matador. Find more information here.