This is an interesting album cycle for Car Seat Headrest in that a new Car Seat song isn’t exactly a new song. On February 16th, the Seattle indie rock band will release Twin Fantasy, a re-recording of his 2011 album of the same name, which was released on Bandcamp and heard by very few at the time. Now with a bit of success and seven-piece touring band, Car Seat leader Will Toledo can finally release the album as he wished he could have at the time, but just didn’t have the resources or experience to do so.
This makes listening to a song like “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)” particularly interesting, because we can easily put the track side by side against the original and see just what Toledo has tinkered with. In a sense, it sounds like the 2011 version is a two dimensional, black-and-white recording while the new version leaps out as a 3D technicolor rush. The idea that the originals were more like demos has already been thrown out there, and indeed the new incarnation sticks close to many of the ideas presented in 2011. But now the song is brighter, louder, clearer, and superior in just about every way. Lo-fi for many artists is a creative decision, but for Car Seat Headrest, it was simply the lot that Toledo was given.
Check out Car Seat Headrest’s “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)” above, and look for Twin Fantasy out on Matador Records on February 16th.
