Singin’ to an Empty Chair is the sixth studio album by Chicago indie-rock/post-country quartet Ratboys, and it’s a pretty ambitious one. The 11 new tracks—over 50 minutes in total—find the band’s songwriter and lead singer Julia Steiner turning inward, traveling through estrangement, therapy, and the uneasy middle ground between holding on and letting go. She explains: “This record feels like the most complete, living thing that we’ve ever made, and the songs feel the most personal to me. There’s an overarching goal that ties everything together: to bridge the gap across an estranged relationship, to provide an update on what life is like in the midst of great absence.”
It’s an immersive, slow-burning listen that rewards surrender and repeat plays. The magnetic vocals naturally take center stage, but don’t underestimate the underlying musical layers, which are as inspired and creative as they are controlled and focused. Intimacy and tension, twang and jangle, soft and hard—they all seem to coexist in a miraculous way.
Singin’ to an Empty Chair—produced by Chris Walla and Ratboys—is out now digitally, on cassette, CD and vinyl LP, through New West Records. Featuring Julia Steiner (vocals, guitars), Dave Sagan (guitar, pocket piano), Sean Neumann (bass, synth bass, vocals), and Marcus Nuccio (drums, tambourine, shaker, synthesizers), with Chris Walla (keys, tape loops), Elizabeth Jordan (cello), Andy Krull (pedal steel), and Jenny Conlee (organ) on select tracks.
my personal album of the week