‘Gethsemane’ Review: A Fantastic Return to Form

A relationship gone south, consistent religious imagery, and an affirmation that one can heal from their trauma all in a tight 11 minute track? What more could you expect from a Car Seat Headrest song?

“Gethsemane,” the latest single from the Bandcamp darling outfit, led by vocalist Will Toledo, is a return to the lyrical and sonic stylings that originally made the group so famous. The sixth track from their upcoming, 13th studio album “The Scholars,” this single functions as a middle point for the album’s narrative.

The track has all the hallmarks of old-school Car Seat Headrest: Toledo’s raw, stripped back vocals against an increasingly varied soundscape, a clear multi-part narrative structure, and a cathartic climax in the back half of the track. After 2020’s “Making a Door Less Open” — an album that heavily played into the electronic elements that were an already consistent part of Toledo’s own production — the new single’s shift back to the basics is a welcome one.

If “Making a Door Less Open” was Toledo’s attempt at a more mainstream approach to his music, “Gethsemane” is the exact opposite. Lyrics make references to ancient Syrian gods, biblical settings, and metaphors with surreal, perhaps almost violent imagery. Toledo’s singular style of songwriting is the only way you could get a lyric like, “Radio tower neck speaks with the accent of my stomach.”

Though the lyrics are not as consistently visceral as on projects like “Twin Fantasy,” the single remains a poignant and pressing narrative accomplishment, clearly bringing the listener through the torments of a tumultuous — if not abusive — relationship.

Toledo establishes the stakes of the record with the very first lines: “It promised me a good life if I followed all its wishes / I never missed a prayer and I always did the dishes.” Over the course of the track, this relationship falls apart, both turning away from the lover and from the religious themes of the song.

That broken connection — both to the other person in a relationship and to some power above — is healed over the course of “Gethsemane.” Toledo transitions from an almost defensive rejection of the past — “I can do whatever the fuck I want when I want to / You're only wearing my skin” — to a look forward to new love. It is fitting that the song ends on the repeated affirmation that “You can love again if you try again.” That’s all there is left to do.

The healing transition gains further depth when one considers that Toledo wrote “Gethsemane” to be a character study of a medical school student named Rosa within the broader narrative of “The Scholars,” which he designed as a rock opera. Rosa’s narrative takes her through the pain her patients’s experience, — both a blessing and a curse. It is this interplay between the difficulty of healing and the catharsis of its conclusion that gives incredible vibrance to the single.

While not as accessible as some of Car Seat Headrest’s earlier works, “Gethsemane” still provides a trenchant portrait of pain and the road to healing for new and old listeners to appreciate. “The Scholars” will be released in full on May 2.

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at hugo.chiasson@thecrimson.com.