Chicago indie rockers Ratboys evolve from ‘country mouse’ to ‘city rat’ on latest album

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Ratboys are closing “The Window” and pulling up a “Chair” on their latest album, signaling they have made themselves at home and are going to stay a while.

The Chicago-based indie rock quartet’s sixth record, “Singin’ to an Empty Chair,” (released Feb. 6) comprises 11 tracks drenched in twangy folk, pop-rock and distortion, and all beating with Midwestern heart.

It’s a similar vibe to 2023’s “The Window” that helped put the band on the map and led to their first headlining tour across the country, a Lollapalooza debut a couple years later (not long after singer/guitarist Julia Steiner worked on the festival’s artist transport team) and an appearance on “CBS Saturday Sessions.”

The title “Singin’ to an Empty Chair” refers to an exercise that singer and guitarist Julia Steiner started doing as she took up therapy for the first time to process an estranged relationship with a loved one.

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“We’re very domestic,” joked Steiner about the parallels in album names. Joined by bandmates, guitarist Dave Sagan, bassist Sean Neumann and drummer Marcus Nuccio, at Ratboys HQ, a quaint basement on the northwest side of Chicago, she proved that point. In a corner of the room, there’s even a pair of bunk beds for bands to crash with them when needed.

The new album is more than just cozy environments, though, tackling heavier themes from troubled relationships to the current political climate. The title actually refers to an exercise that Steiner started doing as she took up therapy for the first time to process an estranged relationship with a loved one. The method is referred to as The Empty Chair Technique, which provides the space for difficult conversations by allowing patients to vocalize feelings to an empty chair as if the other person were there.

“It gave me more precision and willingness to introspect and kind of understand myself a little bit better,” Steiner admitted of how those sessions translated back into her songwriting. “It added more color and dimension to the experience of writing about what you know, which is the only thing I know how to do.”

Ratboys are closing “The Window” and pulling up a “Chair” on their latest album, signaling they have made themselves at home and are going to stay a while.

The Chicago-based indie rock quartet’s sixth record, “Singin’ to an Empty Chair,” (released Feb. 6) comprises 11 tracks drenched in twangy folk, pop-rock and distortion, and all beating with Midwestern heart.

It’s a similar vibe to 2023’s “The Window” that helped put the band on the map and led to their first headlining tour across the country, a Lollapalooza debut a couple years later (not long after singer/guitarist Julia Steiner worked on the festival’s artist transport team) and an appearance on “CBS Saturday Sessions.”

The title “Singin’ to an Empty Chair” refers to an exercise that singer and guitarist Julia Steiner started doing as she took up therapy for the first time to process an estranged relationship with a loved one.

Provided

“We’re very domestic,” joked Steiner about the parallels in album names. Joined by bandmates, guitarist Dave Sagan, bassist Sean Neumann and drummer Marcus Nuccio, at Ratboys HQ, a quaint basement on the northwest side of Chicago, she proved that point. In a corner of the room, there’s even a pair of bunk beds for bands to crash with them when needed.

The new album is more than just cozy environments, though, tackling heavier themes from troubled relationships to the current political climate. The title actually refers to an exercise that Steiner started doing as she took up therapy for the first time to process an estranged relationship with a loved one. The method is referred to as The Empty Chair Technique, which provides the space for difficult conversations by allowing patients to vocalize feelings to an empty chair as if the other person were there.

“It gave me more precision and willingness to introspect and kind of understand myself a little bit better,” Steiner admitted of how those sessions translated back into her songwriting. “It added more color and dimension to the experience of writing about what you know, which is the only thing I know how to do.”