Ratboys hit a new creative stride with 2023’s The Window, one of the strongest indie rock albums released that year. Produced by Chris Walla, the record marked a turning point for the Chicago four-piece. So, despite interviewing and considering several other producers, they ultimately brought the former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist back for their latest release.
Singin’ to an Empty Chair, their first release for New West Records, is a subtle evolution of The Window, boasting many of the band’s hallmark elements while blending everything from indie folk and punk to post-country. But it’s also a deeply personal exploration of where singer/guitarist Julia Steiner’s emotional journey has led her at this point, shaped in part by her recent experience with therapy.
The lyrics are broad enough that listeners can take their own meaning from the songs, though there are hints here and there of what Steiner is working through (“Pick all the locks inside our head / It takes a lot in our defense,” she sings on the album’s opening track, “Open Up”). That song sets the tone perfectly, building slowly from a jangly guitar introduction before picking up momentum as the percussion comes in. The formula carries over into the next track, “Know You Then,” which pushes the album toward a more indie-rock–focused sound with sharper, louder guitars.
“Light Night Mountains All That” stands out as one of the album’s strongest moments, with delicate acoustic guitars giving way to a more urgent, driving sound. Steiner’s delivery vacillates between confident and pleading as the song builds into an emotional swirl of heavy guitars and frenetic drumming—one of the record’s most powerful peaks. Her repeated chant of “you didn’t care” near the end of the nearly six-minute track is almost chilling.
“Anywhere” is just as structurally and musically adventurous, if slightly less dark, making it another highlight of the album. The record closes on two powerful but disparate emotional notes. “Burn It Down,” written in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd amid global protests, begins with a country-tinged guitar and Steiner singing methodically and clearly about the need to burn the system down. As the song reaches its midpoint, the guitars grow more angular and the drums heavier, eventually devolving into a brilliant dissonance that perfectly matches the justified anger of the moment. Immediately following is the closing track, “At Peace in the Hundred Acre Woods,” a beautiful, vulnerable three-minute indie-pop song that re-centers both the album and the listener, ending on an optimistic note.
With The Window, Ratboys reached a career high with a nearly flawless album. With Singin’ to an Empty Chair, they have somehow managed to outdo themselves.
One Response
This review perfectly captures the evolution I’ve been hearing in Ratboys’ sound. I was particularly struck by how you described the dynamic shifts between tracks—it seems like they managed to deepen the emotional complexity without sacrificing that signature angular energy. Has any other band managed such a consistent level of reinvention lately?