Making a Door Less Open

Last updated
Making a Door Less Open
Car Seat Headrest - Making a Door Less Open.png
Studio album by
Car Seat Headrest
ReleasedMay 1, 2020 (2020-05-01)
Recorded
  • January 2019
  • October 2019
Studio Avast! (Seattle, Washington)
Genre
Length47:28
Label Matador
Producer
Car Seat Headrest chronology
Commit Yourself Completely
(2019)		Making a Door Less Open
(2020)		 Faces from the Masquerade
(2023)
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
Metacritic 77/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
And It Don't Stop Five Pointed Star Solid.svg [3]
Beats Per Minute 85% [4]
Consequence of Sound B [5]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Pitchfork 6.6/10 [8]
The Observer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Our Culture Mag Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [11]

Making a Door Less Open is the twelfth 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.

Contents

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 prominence of 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 band's side-project, 1 Trait Danger. 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]

Making a Door Less Open would officially release on May 1, 2020, [29] the ten year anniversary of Car Seat Headrest's first album, 1. [30] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the band's planned North American tour was cancelled, later being rescheduled to 2022. [31] [32]

Reception

Making a Door Less Open would receive generally positive reviews from critics. Jon Blistein of Rolling Stone would describe the album as "a well-executed experiment in cross-genre pollination that heightens Toledo’s best songwriting impulses — his humor, self-deprecation, cynicism and compassion." [33] In a review for Under the Radar, Caleb Campbell would describe the album as a "disorienting listen," adding that it "feel[s] like less of a holistic artistic statement than the band’s previous albums," but ultimately praised the band for their boldness to go in new directions. [34] Rob Hakimian of Beats Per Minute credited the album for avoiding the "fatigue" induced by the run time of prior releases, and that the album was made compelling by "how each song manages to use different sonic approaches to extract a new shade of [Toledo's] despondency". [35]

In a more mixed review, Pitchfork's Ian Cohen would describe Making a Door Less Open as "mild disappointments and half-realized experiments [that] lack the contrarian conviction that mints future cult classics", praising opener "Weightlifters," but describing single "Hollywood" as "both the laziest and most ruthlessly calculated thing [Toledo's] done." [36] Paste Magazine's Steven Edelstone would also describe the album as "the first legitimate misfire in the career of one of this generation’s most talented indie-rock songwriters." [37]

While critical reception was generally positive, fan reception was more divisive, with fans noting the many divergences from the band's previous work. In an interview with Binaural, Toledo would discuss the album's reception, saying:

"I'm bummed at what some people are making of it, because most people don't follow my philosophy of approaching [each album] completely fresh, so they see it in terms of how they see the band already. But I just can't really counter that; to me, music is only exciting when there's the possibility of going anywhere with it." [38]

In a 2023 interview with Stereogum, Toledo would note that he still liked the songs on the record, but felt that the release of the album coinciding with COVID lockdowns had left people feeling unreceptive to a "thorny" album. [39]

Accolades

Accolades for Making a Door Less Open
PublicationAccoladeRankRef.
Billboard Billboard's 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year—
Stereogum Stereogum's 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year
30
Rolling Stone Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2020 – Mid-Year—
Under the Radar Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2020
43

Track listing

All tracks are written by Will Toledo, except "Hollywood", written by Toledo and Andrew Katz. [44]

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"7:33
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" (alternative 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, [44] and the album's vinyl liner notes.

Car Seat Headrest

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Chart performance for Making a Door Less Open
Chart (2020)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [45] 86
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [46] 91
Scottish Albums (OCC) [47] 9
US Billboard 200 [48] 184
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [49] 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 (26 February 2020). "Car Seat Headrest Announces 'Making A Door Less Open'". Stereogum . Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  14. 1 2 3 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. 29 April 2020. 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. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. 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. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  25. ↑ "Car Seat Headrest Announce New Album and Tour, Share New Song". Pitchfork. 26 February 2020. 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. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  29. ↑ "Making a Door Less Open, by Car Seat Headrest". Car Seat Headrest. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  30. ↑ "1, by Car Seat Headrest". Car Seat Headrest. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  31. ↑ "Ticket buyers may have already gotten an email about this but our summer tour has been cancelled for the expected reasons. You can get a refund at your point of purchase. Incredibly bummed to be losing this opportunity to play. Rescheduling & alternate events TBD". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
  32. ↑ "tickets on sale soon". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  33. ↑ Blistein, Jon (2020-05-01). "Car Seat Headrest's 'Making a Door Less Open' Follows a Forked Path to a Big Emotional Payoff". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  34. ↑ Campbell, Caleb. "Making a Door Less Open". www.undertheradarmag.com. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  35. ↑ Hakimian, Rob (2020-05-01). "Album Review: Car Seat Headrest – Making A Door Less Open". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  36. ↑ Cohen, Ian. "Car Seat Headrest: Making a Door Less Open". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  37. ↑ "Car Seat Headrest Makes an Album for Arenas, But Loses Itself in the Process". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  38. ↑ "Conversando por Whatsapp con Will Toledo (Car Seat Headrest) - Binaural" (in Spanish). 2020-05-13. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  39. ↑ "Will Toledo On Car Seat Headrest's New Album, Long COVID, The State Of Bandcamp, & More". Stereogum. 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  40. ↑ Billboard Staff (June 9, 2020). "The 50 Best Albums of 2020 (So Far)". Billboard . Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  41. ↑ "Best Albums of 2020 So Far". Stereogum . June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  42. ↑ Schwartz, Danny (June 17, 2020). "50 Best Albums of 2020 – So Far". Rolling Stone . Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  43. ↑ "Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2020". Under the Radar . January 15, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  44. 1 2 "Making A Door Less Open, by Car Seat Headrest". Car Seat Headrest. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  45. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 11 May 2020". No. 1575. Australian Recording Industry Association. May 11, 2020.{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  46. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Car Seat Headrest – Making a Door Less Open" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  47. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  48. ↑ "Car Seat Headrest Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  49. ↑ "Car Seat Headrest Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
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