Making a Door Less Open

Making a Door Less Open is the twelfth studio album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest. It was 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
Studio album by
Car Seat Headrest
ReleasedMay 1, 2020 (2020-05-01)
Recorded
  • January 2019
  • October 2019
StudioAvast! (Seattle, Washington)
Genre
Length47:28
LabelMatador
Producer
  • Will Toledo
  • Andrew Katz
Car Seat Headrest chronology
Commit Yourself Completely
(2019)		 Making a Door Less Open
(2020)
Singles from Making a Door Less Open
  1. "Can't Cool Me Down"
    Released: February 26, 2020
  2. "Martin"
    Released: March 23, 2020
  3. "Hollywood"
    Released: April 16, 2020
  4. "There Must Be More Than Blood"
    Released: April 23, 2020
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
And It Don't Stop[3]
Beats Per Minute85%[4]
Consequence of SoundB [5]
The Guardian[6]
NME[7]
Pitchfork6.6/10[8]
The Observer[9]
Our Culture Mag[10]
Rolling Stone[11]

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,[12] 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.[13]

Background

Writing for Making a Door Less Open began in January 2015,[14] prior to the band's signing to Matador Records.[15] Lead singer/songwriter Will Toledo began developing the songs electronically, with the ideas later being fleshed out into full songs in 2018. The first song conceived for the project would go on to become the opening track, Weightlifters.[16] Unlike previous Car Seat Headrest albums, Making a Door Less Open would end up being produced with more emphasis on the individual tracks, due to the increased emphasis on streaming and playlists in modern music consumption. This would result in three separate versions of the album's track-list across release formats: vinyl, CD, and streaming.[17]

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."[14]

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".[18] In January 2019, percussionist Andrew Katz confirmed the band was in the studio recording new music through a video uploaded on Instagram.[19]

Following the tease of new music, the band began experimenting with new material at live shows, initially debuting the tracks "Weightlifters" and "Hollywood" at The Vera Project in December 2018.[20][21] 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.[22]

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.[23][24] 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".[25] 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.[26] 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."[14]

"Trait" would go on to appear in the lyric video for the album's second single, "Martin", released on March 23,[27] and the animated music video for the album's third single, "Hollywood", released on April 16.[28]

Accolades
Accolades for Making a Door Less Open
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
Billboard Billboard's 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year N/A
[29]
Stereogum Stereogum's 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year
30
[30]
Rolling Stone Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year N/A
[31]

Track listings

All tracks are written by Will Toledo, except "Hollywood", written by Toledo and Andrew Katz.[32]

Digital edition
No.TitleLength
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
CD edition
No.TitleLength
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:48:32
Vinyl side one
No.TitleLength
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
Vinyl side two
No.TitleLength
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

Personnel

Credits are adapted from Bandcamp,[32] and the album's vinyl liner notes.

Car Seat Headrest

  • Will Toledo – vocals, synthesizers, keyboards, organ, guitar, piano, drum programming (on "Martin")
  • Andrew Katz – drums, drum programming, vocals (on "Hollywood")
  • Ethan Ives – guitars, vocals (on "Can't Cool Me Down" and "What's With You Lately")
  • Seth Dalby – bass guitar

Additional musicians

  • Gianni Aiello – guitar (on "Hollywood" and "There Must Be More Than Blood")
  • John Huggins – violin (on "Can't Cool Me Down")

Production

  • Will Toledo – production, mixing, engineering
  • Andrew Katz – production, mixing, mastering (digital)
  • John McRae – engineering
  • Bernie Grundman – mastering (vinyl)
  • Cate Wurtz – artwork

Charts
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[33] 86
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34] 91
Scottish Albums (OCC)[35] 9
US Billboard 200[36] 184
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[37] 22
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References
  1. "Making a Door Less Open by Car Seat Headrest Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  2. Deming, Mark. "Making a Door Less Open - Car Seat Headrest". AllMusic. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  3. Christgau, Robert (August 12, 2020). "Consumer Guide: August, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  4. Hakimian, Rob (May 1, 2020). "Album Review: Car Seat Headrest - Making Doors Less Open". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  5. Weiss, Dan (May 4, 2020). "Car Seat Headrest's Making a Door Less Open Expands the Band's Sonic Possibilities: Review". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  6. Petridis, Alexis (April 30, 2020). "Car Seat Headrest: Making a Door Less Open review – cult indie star in middle of the road". The Guardian. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  7. Buchanan, Rhys (May 1, 2020). "Car Seat Headrest – 'Making A Door Less Open' review: as confounding as its knowing title suggests". NME.
  8. Cohen, Ian (May 1, 2020). "Car Seat Headrest: Making a Door Less Open". Pitchfork.
  9. Mackay, Emily (May 3, 2020). "Car Seat Headrest: Making a Door Less Open review – Will Toledo in yet another guise". The Observer. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  10. Pappis, Konstantinos (May 5, 2020). "Album Review: Car Seat Headrest, 'Making a Door Less Open'". Our Culture Mag. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  11. Blistein, Jon (May 1, 2020). "Car Seat Headrest's 'Making a Door Less Open' Follows a Forked Path to a Big Emotional Payoff". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  12. 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.
  13. Leas, Ryan. "Car Seat Headrest Announces 'Making A Door Less Open'". Stereogum. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  14. Toledo, Will. "Newness and Strangeness". Car Seat Headrest. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  15. "Car Seat Headrest Sign to Matador, Unveil 'Something Soon' Video". Spin. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  16. "[INTERVIEW] Car Seat Headrest | Monchicon!". monchicon.jugem.jp. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  17. ""More Like A Collection Of Poems" Inside Car Seat Headrest's New Album". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  18. Listen to "An Interview with Car Seat Headrest" posted by Matt Wilkinson on Apple Music., retrieved 2020-03-25
  19. "Andrew Katz on Instagram: 'Loser Tuesdays'". Instagram. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  20. 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.
  21. "Car Seat Headrest Concert Setlist at The Vera Project, Seattle on December 8 2018". Setlist.fm. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  22. carseatheadrest (July 24, 2019). "Car Seat Headrest - I Haven't Done Sh*t This Year (TIDAL Documentary, Part Three)". Youtube. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  23. headrest, car seat (2020-02-03). "a canvas as white as the moonpic.twitter.com/i0V4vgyRD4". @carseatheadrest. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  24. "Will Toledo on Instagram: 'a canvas as white as the moon'". Instagram. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  25. "Car Seat Headrest Announce New Album and Tour, Share New Song". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  26. carseatheadrest (March 23, 2020). "Car Seat Headrest - "Martin" (Official Lyric Video)". Youtube. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  27. Shaffer, Claire (2020-03-23). "Car Seat Headrest Debut Alter-Ego in 'Martin' Lyric Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  28. "Car Seat Headrest Share New Song 'Hollywood'". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  29. Billboard Staff (June 9, 2020). "The 50 Best Albums of 2020 (So Far)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  30. "Best Albums of 2020 So Far". Stereogum. June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  31. Schwartz, Danny (June 17, 2020). "50 Best Albums of 2020 – So Far". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  32. "Making A Door Less Open, by Car Seat Headrest". Car Seat Headrest. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  33. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 11 May 2020". No. 1575. Australian Recording Industry Association. May 11, 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  34. "Ultratop.be – Car Seat Headrest – Making a Door Less Open" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  35. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  36. "Car Seat Headrest Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  37. "Car Seat Headrest Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
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