In 2011, Will Toledo, a university student and bedroom musician, set about creating his most ambitious project under his Car Seat Headrest pseudonym. He produced Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror), a brutally honest examination of an important, formative romantic relationship in his life. The result is an emotionally raw record – combining contemplative lyrics with a lo-fi aesthetic which beautifully recreates the suffocating sadness of being forced to examine one’s own behaviour in a troubled relationship.

Upon making his big break by signing for Matador Records, Toledo ensured his contract would allow him to recraft his seminal work. Now with a full band, Car Seat Headrest set about forging an updated version of the album with the scruffiness of his self-production was scrubbed away.

Released in 2018, the reconstructed version is appropriately titled Twin Fantasy (Face to Face). Toledo wrote that the name change “puts the focus on perspective – they’re both looking at the same subject, filtered through a particular perspective”. Where Mirror to Mirror is trapped inside the moment, Face to Face contains lyrical alterations made with the benefit of hindsight and allow for deeper introspection. One could say the singer in the 2011 version doesn’t know how the romance ends, but the 2018 singer does.

Throughout the piece, Toledo opines on love, loss and finding oneself; doing so in a way which is deeply personal, while simultaneously avoiding a discussion of specifics or airing dirty laundry. As such, the album is incredibly accessible and resonates emotionally in a way few records can. On Beach Life-in-Death, when Will sings “I pretended I was drunk when I came out to my friends”, his story creates a response in the listener as if it was their own memory; who hasn’t said something they regret then tried to walk it back? This effect is repeated throughout the record and strengthens the bond between the artist and the listener.

At times, the naivety of the original version shines through and moments of perceived romanticism come across as destructive. Sober to Death discusses the couple’s struggles with mental health, though the singer appears to classify mutual suffering as being inherently romantic and somewhat noble. Toledo himself has described the song as “toxic” but, within the context of an album examining the learning process of teenage relationships, the more troubling passages certainly make sense. Hopefully, younger listeners heed the warnings of these darker tracks rather than viewing them as a guide to life.

Joy lives alongside sorrow in life and in relationships, as such, there are remnants of positive memories scattered amongst the sadness of this record. Car Seat Headrest recreates the nervous thrill of flirting and courting with the LCD Soundsystem inspired synths of Bodies. Later, Cute Thing combines the energetic glee of They Might Be Giants with lyrics concerning a meeting between the long distance partners “for a week of debauchery”. Not only do these moments of levity contrast and add weight to the more meaningful tracks, but they also present a more realistic depiction of a dysfunctional relationship; although the bad times suck, there are occasional positives in the darkness.

Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) works to create a dreamlike experience; the audience becomes lost in it’s swirling mist of emotion. Glimpses of memories briefly enter and exit the scene, leaving behind only feelings evoked by the experience. Toledo’s lyrics are like the reassuring embrace of a friend, the knowledge that you aren’t alone in your struggles and that somebody else has gone through the same thing. At times the listener relates to the narrator, at times they align with his lover, and at times they are the reassuring friend. By tapping into his own vulnerability, Toledo and Car Seat Headrest have created a universal work within which listeners can become immersed, regardless of the specifics of their romantic history.

“Don’t worry, you and me won’t be alone no more.”