Making a Door Less Open
 | This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (March 2020) |
| Making a Door Less Open | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Car Seat Headrest, "Making a Door Less Open" album cover.jpg | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1, 2020 | |||
| Recorded | 2015–2020 | |||
| Studio | Avast! Recording Company | |||
| Label | Matador | |||
| Producer | Will Toledo, Andrew Katz | |||
| Car Seat Headrest chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Making a Door Less Open | ||||
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Making a Door Less Open is the upcoming twelfth studio album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, set to be released on May 1, 2020 via Matador Records. The album serves as the band's fourth for the label and the second to consist of newly written material.
Making a Door Less Open marks a distinct stylistic divergence from the band's previous material. While Car Seat Headrest largely became known for their indie rock sound and use of "lo-fi" aesthetics,[1] the style of the album was largely influenced by experiments with 1 Trait Danger, the electronic side-project of band members Will Toledo and Andrew Katz.[2]
Background
Writing for Making a Door Less Open began in January 2015, prior to the band's signing to Matador Records[3], initially conceived as a vague collection of ideas that were later fleshed out into full songs.[4]
Toledo, in an official write-up on the album titled "Newness and Strangeness", wrote, "The songs [from Making a Door Less Open] contain elements of EDM, hip hop, futurism, doo-wop, soul, and of course rock and roll. But underneath all these things I think these may be folk songs, because they can be played and sung in many different ways, and they're about things that are important to a lot of people: anger with society, sickness, loneliness, [and] love."[4]
Recording and release
In an August 2018 interview with Matt Wilkinson, Toledo confirmed that he was demoing out new material for the band, adding that, “there might be some stuff that surprises people who only know us as a rock band, but I don’t think it will come as a surprise to people who are checking out all the deep cuts".[5] In January 2019, percussionist Andrew Katz confirmed the band was in the studio recording new music through a video uploaded on Instagram.[6]
Following the tease of new music, the band began experimenting with new material at live shows, initially debuting the tracks "Weightlifters" and "Can't Cool Me Down" at The Vera Project in December 2018.[7][8] The band would also tease the song "Stop Lying to Me" as a part of their TIDAL documentary series, "I Haven't Done Sh*t This Year" in July 2019.[9]
On February 3, 2020, Car Seat Headrest began sharing an abstract series of artworks created by Cate Wurtz on Twitter and Instagram, featuring mysterious captions.[10][11] This continued throughout the month before concluding on February 26, 2020, when Making a Door Less Open was officially announced by the band, along with the release of the album's first single, "Can't Cool Me Down".[12] The album's announcement also coincided with the introduction of "Trait", an alternative persona of Toledo's which had originally stemmed from the 1 Trait Danger side-project. The character is presented wearing a gas-mask with LED eyes, and a hi-viz jacket and pants[13]. Toledo explained his reasoning for introducing the character as the result of performance anxiety, and a wish to "remind [himself] and everyone else to have some fun with it."[4]
"Trait" would go on to appear in the lyric video for the album's second single, "Martin", released on March 23,[14] and the animated music video for the album's third single, "Hollywood", released on April 16.[15]
Track listing
Digital edition
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Weightlifters" | 5:40 |
| 2. | "Can't Cool Me Down" | 5:09 |
| 3. | "Deadlines (Hostile)" | 4:21 |
| 4. | "Hollywood" | 3:23 |
| 5. | "Hymn (Remix)" | 2:48 |
| 6. | "Martin" | 3:28 |
| 7. | "Deadlines (Thoughtful)" | 5:52 |
| 8. | "What's With You Lately?" | 1:35 |
| 9. | "Life Worth Missing" | 4:53 |
| 10. | "There Must Be More Than Blood" | 7:34 |
| 11. | "Famous" | 2:45 |
| Total length: | 47:28 | |
Vinyl edition
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Weightlifters" | 5:38 |
| 2. | "Can't Cool Me Down" | 5:08 |
| 3. | "Hollywood" | 3:23 |
| 4. | "There Must Be More Than Blood" | 7:21 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Hymn" | 3:02 |
| 6. | "Deadlines" | 5:03 |
| 7. | "Martin" | 3:27 |
| 8. | "What's with You Lately?" | 1:37 |
| 9. | "Life Worth Missing" | 4:52 |
| 10. | "Famous" | 2:49 |
| Total length: | 42:20 | |
CD edition
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Weightlifters" | 5:41 |
| 2. | "Can't Cool Me Down" | 5:09 |
| 3. | "Hollywood" | 3:22 |
| 4. | "Martin" | 3:32 |
| 5. | "Hymn (Remix)" | 2:48 |
| 6. | "There Must Be More Than Blood" | 7:22 |
| 7. | "Deadlines" | 5:05 |
| 8. | "What's With You Lately?" | 1:37 |
| 9. | "Life Worth Missing" | 4:52 |
| 10. | "Famous" | 2:52 |
| 11. | "Deadlines (alternate acoustic)" (bonus track) | 3:07 |
| 12. | "Hollywood (acoustic)" (bonus track) | 3:10 |
| Total length: | 48:37 | |
Personnel
Credits adapted from the vinyl sleeve of Making a Door Less Open.
Car Seat Headrest
- Seth Dalby – bass guitar
- Ethan Ives – guitars, vocals (tracks Can't Cool Me Down, What's With You Lately)
- Andrew Katz – drums, drum programming, vocals (track Hollywood)
- Will Toledo – vocals, synth, organ, drum programming (track Martin)
Additional musicians
- Gianni Aiello – guitar (tracks Hollywood, There Must Be More Than Blood)
- John Huggins – violin (track Can't Cool Me Down)
Production
- Will Toledo – production and mixing
- Andrew Katz – production, mixing, mastering
- John McRae – engineering
- Bernie Grundman – mastering
- Cate Wurtz – visual design
References
- ^ Gaston, Gregory. "Car Seat Headrest's Will Toledo Talks About the Lo-Fi Aesthetic, Remaking His Old Songs and Borrowing From Others". CityBeat. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ Leas, Ryan. "Car Seat Headrest Announces 'Making A Door Less Open'". Stereogum. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ "Car Seat Headrest Sign to Matador, Unveil 'Something Soon' Video". Spin. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ a b c Toledo, Will. "Newness and Strangeness". Car Seat Headrest. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ Listen to “An Interview with Car Seat Headrest” posted by Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music., retrieved 2020-03-25
- ^ "Andrew Katz on Instagram: "Loser Tuesdays"". Instagram. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ Car Seat Headrest (December 7, 2018). "Heard some confusion about whether this is an 'unplugged' show...it is a full set from the full band, with lots of plugs! AND...we're trying out some new material!". Twitter. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ "Car Seat Headrest Concert Setlist at Royale, Boston on February 14, 2019 | setlist.fm". web.archive.org. 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ carseatheadrest (July 24, 2019). "Car Seat Headrest - I Haven't Done Sh*t This Year (TIDAL Documentary, Part Three)". Youtube. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ headrest, car seat (2020-02-03). "a canvas as white as the moonpic.twitter.com/i0V4vgyRD4". @carseatheadrest. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
- ^ "Will Toledo on Instagram: "a canvas as white as the moon"". Instagram. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
- ^ "Car Seat Headrest Announce New Album and Tour, Share New Song". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ carseatheadrest (March 23, 2020). "Car Seat Headrest - "Martin" (Official Lyric Video)". Youtube. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Shaffer, Claire; Shaffer, Claire (2020-03-23). "Car Seat Headrest Debut Alter-Ego in 'Martin' Lyric Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ "Car Seat Headrest Share New Song "Hollywood"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-04-16.