Ratboys opens its new album, Singin’ to an Empty Chair, with an invitation. “What’s it gonna take to open up this time?” vocalist Julia Steiner sings, launching an 11-song conversation that stands as Ratboys’ most introspective and emotionally driven work yet. Before long, the song swells into the sort of musical sunshower that’s become Ratboys’ specialty, underscoring the high stakes across the band’s sixth album and how gracefully the four-piece navigates them. When Steiner asks the question on “Open Up,” it’s clear she really means it.
Despite its title, Singin’ to an Empty Chair is not defined by what’s missing. Rather, Steiner says, it’s the beginning of an important dialogue. “A big, overarching theme of this record is my attempt to document my experience being estranged from a close loved one,” she says. “The goal is to update this person on what's been going on in my life and to try to bridge that impasse and reach out a hand into the void.”
Singin’ to an Empty Chair, the band’s first album for New West Records, fills that space with nearly an hour of new music showcasing Ratboys at the peak of their powers — twangy, effervescent, and as confident as they’ve ever been.