Ratboys: Singin’ To An Empty Chair [Album Review]

Ratboys
Singin’ To An Empty Chair
New West Records [2026]

“A slow-burn triumph that proves sometimes the bravest thing a band can do is let the silence linger.”

Album Overview: Ratboys started in Chicago in 2010 with Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan, later growing into a four-piece with Sean Neumann and Marcus Nuccio. Over the years, they’ve built their reputation the right way: steady touring, strong records, and songs that balance personal writing with a locked-in band feel. Singin’ to an Empty Chair centers on conversations that never happened when they mattered most. At its core, the album is about saying the things that stayed unsaid for too long, even when there’s no guarantee anyone is still listening. These songs feel like messages sent too late, tracing everyday life, distance, and the quiet work of moving forward anyway. What sets this record apart is how comfortable Ratboys sound sitting with that tension, letting moments linger instead of rushing toward resolution. It’s a confident step forward, leaning into a modern twang that fits just as well on foot-tapping mid-tempo tracks as it does on slower, more patient stretches. The album feels personal and focused without losing the sense of four people playing together in a room.

Musical Style: The album blends guitar rock, pop hooks, and country touches without locking itself into any one lane. Some songs move quickly and feel light on their feet, while others stretch out and settle into deeper grooves. At 51 minutes, this is the longest album in Ratboys’ catalog, but it never feels padded. Instead, it sounds like a band confident enough to let ideas stretch just long enough to say what they need to say. The playing stays clean and direct throughout, keeping the songs easy to follow and giving the record strong replay value despite its length.

Evolution of Sound: Compared to earlier releases, this record sounds more settled—not because the band is playing it safe, but because they trust their instincts. Ratboys give these songs room to grow, letting parts shift naturally instead of forcing big moments. The pacing is especially strong, with longer tracks acting as anchors that give the shorter ones more weight. It feels like a band comfortable with patience and confident in where the songs want to go.

Artists with Similar Fire: Listeners into Waxahatchee, Big Thief, Hop Along, and The Beths will really connect with this album. There are also flashes of later-era Wilco and MJ Lenderman, especially in how Ratboys blend rock and roots influences without slipping into nostalgia or leaning on genre shorthand.

Pivotal Tracks: The album kicks off with “Open Up” which sets the tone immediately, posing a question that hangs over the entire record. “Penny in the Lake” highlights the band’s live energy and dry sense of humor. “Anywhere” turns up the volume, adding nervous momentum and a big, sticky hook that makes it the loudest moment on the album. “Just Want You To Know The Truth” stretches past the eight-minute mark and serves as the record’s emotional center, showing the band’s patience and restraint. When the guitar swells midway through, it feels like noise inside a quiet room, always threatening to break open but choosing control instead.

Lyrical Strength: Steiner’s writing stays honest and unguarded, focusing on family strain, missed conversations, and the thoughts that keep looping when the house goes quiet. The lyrics often sound plain on the surface, but they carry weight through detail and repetition. Lines like “If I told you I was okay / Well that would have been a lie” in “Just Want You to Know the Truth” land harder because they aren’t dressed up or softened. Elsewhere on “What’s Right?”, she leans into unease and abstraction, letting emotion blur into imagery, as in “My subconscious is a man / He softly says to me / ‘I’ll vanish when you need me to / I’ll hold you when you sleep.’”

Across the album, Steiner balances direct confession with moments that feel half-dreamed and unresolved. There’s no tidy lesson or emotional bow at the end, just the feeling of someone saying what they need to say, even if it arrives late. That restraint gives the album its lasting pull.

Final Groove: Singin’ to an Empty Chair finds Ratboys fully settled into themselves while still leaving room to grow. It’s thoughtful without being heavy, patient without losing momentum, and grounded in the strength of the band as a unit. Rather than chasing answers, the album values the act of reaching out and staying present with unresolved feelings. It suggests that growth doesn’t always come from closure, but from the willingness to keep asking the right questions—and trusting that the songs will carry you wherever they need to go next. This now represents the band’s best album to date.

RATBOYS REVIEW HISTORY
The Window (2023) / AOID (2015)

RATBOYS LINKS
Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | New West Records