Ratboys - Singin' To An Empty Chair (black 2LP)

Ratboys - Singin' To An Empty Chair (black 2LP)Despite its title, Ratboys new album Singin to an Empty Chair is not defined by whats missing. Rather, its the beginning of an important dialogue with a close loved one, vocalist Julia Steiner finds herself estranged from. The music on the bands sixth studio album its first for New West Records fills the space that person left behind with 11 songs showcasing Ratboys at the peak of their powers twangy, effervescent, as confident as theyve ever been,

Despite its title, Ratboys’ new album Singin’ to an Empty Chair is not defined by what’s missing. Rather, it’s the beginning of an important dialogue with a close loved one, vocalist Julia Steiner finds herself estranged from. The music on the band’s sixth studio album – its first for New West Records – fills the space that person left behind with 11 songs showcasing Ratboys at the peak of their powers — twangy, effervescent, as confident as they’ve ever been, and perhaps more emotionally interrogative than ever before. The four-piece Chicago band followed up 2023’s highly acclaimed The Window by reconvening with co-producer Chris Walla to begin tracking at a rural Wisconsin cabin before taking the songs to Steve Albini’s famed Electrical Audio studios in Chicago and later to Rosebud Studio in Evanston, Illinois. The results veer from bubbly power-pop on “Anywhere” to irresistible post-country on “Penny in the Lake,” along with heart-piercing ballads like “Just Want You to Know the Truth” and an exhilarating detour into the extraterrestrial on “Light Night Mountains All That,” which Steiner dubs the band’s mammoth “wormhole jam.” Singin’ to an Empty Chair also marks the first Ratboys album written since Steiner began therapy, which the singer/lyricist credits for the clarity found across the album’s unflinching examinations of relationship and self. Fittingly, as the album begins by extending a hand into the void, it concludes with a scene of serenity – all while weaving candid honesty, humor, chaos, and whimsy along the way. “It's not all doom and gloom,” Steiner says. “The experience of making this record definitely gives me hope for whatever happens next.”

Tracklist
LP1
01 Open Up
02 Know You Then
03 Light Night Mountains All That
04 Anywhere
05 Penny in the Lake
06 Strange Love
07 The World, So Madly
08 Just Want You to Know the Truth

LP2
01 What's Right?
02 Burn It Down
03 At Peace in the Hundred Acre Wood