My first Ratboys album, I discovered this release as part of NMF 2026-02-05.
Singin' to an Empty Chair feels like a very personal record from the band, diving into relationships, family dynamics, traumas, and how we work through them.
As a concept, the album comes across as meeting with a family member or friend you haven't seen in a long time, and listening to them tell you about what they've been up to since you last talked.
The idea was: Wouldn't it be nice to have a record as an update on what my life is like, or an invitation to reconnect and a place to start?
- Julia Steiner for Stereogum
Each track is an important part of the complete message of the album, which comes together as a message to an estranged loved one. A desire to reconnect.
Tracks
Open Up
The opening track to the album asks a very simple question: what will it take for you to talk to me?
As an opener, the band is setting the theme that, throughout this album, we're trying to open a door in the wall that was put up between Julia and a family member.
Pick all the locks inside our heads
It takes a while, in your defense
But, I got lots of time
So, what's it gonna take to open up tonight?
However, while the message on its surface is asking what it will take for the other person to open up, it's also an introspective view asking herself what it will take for her to open up. Communication is a two-way street and it doesn't take just one person.
Know You Then
Know You Then is a track looking back in time and a wishful view of hindsight.
The artist is talking to the person, now knowing the traumas that they carry later in life. Youthful bullying, an absent father, and how those experiences are hidden from those around them. The artist is conveying that, had they known back then, if they had been there, they would have done something to help. Ultimately, though, you can't fix everything, and some things are out of their control.
We can't fix other people's past traumas, but we can be here now and listen and understand.
Light Night Mountains All That
After the empathetic view of the relationship in Know You Then we take a turn to a very different tone.
In Light Night Mountains All That Julia asks where you were when I needed help?
The process of opening up is about communicating and understanding each other's perspectives and, sometimes, that means being very blunt about where you're coming from. The track comes across as accusatory. This person knew what was happening but, from the artist's perspective, you didn't care.
Ultimately, the track is about perspective. You have to start the conversation somewhere.
Anywhere
The fourth track feels like a break from the heavy themes of the first few songs of the album.
Anywhere is written from the perspective of a dog. Pets often have separation anxiety when their family leaves, even for short periods of time.
While it doesn't cover the people in our conversation, the overall concept shows the eagerness of wanting to reconnect. The separation anxiety that has come from a long time divided. A hopeful look at the joy that may come from reconnecting.
Penny in the Lake
An observational track. Penny in the Lake is a song where the artist is watching the world around them. Something of a stream of consciousness.
The track doesn't have a deep meaning, but for some reason I latched on to the chorus
There's a penny in the lake
But, it's not what I thought
It's just someone's wish they forgot
It's a bittersweet thought, one of those glass half empty or half full kinds of lyrics. Seeing a penny in a lake or a fountain, knowing that someone tossed it in there making a wish. Did it come true? Did they move on and forget about it? We'll never know.
Strange Love
The sixth track is a more relaxed song. Strange Love is kicking off your shoes after the day and getting to lay down and let the stresses leave you.
It's not always easy to leave those worries and stresses behind, but when you do, you'll want to hold on for dear life.
The World, So Madly
If Strange Love was a nighttime relaxation, The World, So Madly is like waking up in the morning. We go from winding down to spinning up.
You know when you look at the clock in the morning before work and it seems as if it's moving faster. So unfair, right?
Now the artist is begging time to slow down, even if just a little bit. Alas, the world keeps spinning and so we have to keep up.
Just Want You to Know the Truth
The climax of the album, Just Want You to Know the Truth is a very vulnerable and personal song.
Signing' to an Empty Chair comes from writing this song.
That’s where the empty chair came in. My therapist gave me this idea to try to simulate this conversation with an empty chair and just see if that unlocked anything — not just for the songwriting, but just within my own processing of life and all of these big changes that my family’s been going through.
- Julia Steiner for Stereogum
This is a very raw song, showing emotion and conveying a wound that didn't fully heal. Julia is explaining the experience of learning something about this person that she didn't expect, how it affected her. This is obviously one of the reasons for the rift between them and one of the large gaps they would have to cross in order to reconnect.
Everyone has skeletons in their closet and things they don't intend for others to learn about them. Learning about someone else's skeletons can color your image of them. As if the person you knew wasn't really who you thought they were. It can feel like a betrayal.
In this song, Julia is saying that, while she isn't ready to work past this fully, she wanted them to know what happened.
What's Right?
As we come down from the climax of the album, we take another turn from the heavy emotional weight of Just Want You to Know the Truth to a upbeat almost hopeful song.
What's Right has a freeing feeling. A go-with-the-flow attitude, letting life come at you and living in the moment.
The instrumental break brings in another sublime heavy guitar piece with punchy drums.
Split into two parts, the second half of the track is a poetic retelling of a thought from a dream. Your subconscious trying to tell you something. Trying to tell you to love yourself, to relax and give yourself space and time. To let yourself be comfortable where you are.
Burn It Down
The penultimate track of the album starts as the chillest protest song I've ever heard.
Burn It Down sympathizes with the desire to burn down the system that's causing so much pain. Sticking with that observational theme that we've had in several of the tracks, the song is a reaction to watching protests unfold over recent years.
The first time we played this song live was two days after Trump got elected. We played it in Grand Rapids. I should say his election in 2024. The fact that he’s been elected twice is just indescribably ridiculous. It felt immediately very important for us to play that song, and luckily it seemed to resonate with the people in the audience, not just us. We’ve been playing it ever since then and look forward to doing it.
- Julia Steiner for Stereogum
The track's calm verses wrap around a heavier instrumental section which feels as the intense protest it's observing. Afterward, we flow back into the calm lyrics, but with a stern message.
Hands off our fuckin' mouths
In the current political climate, where The United States has dived into authoritarian rule, it's more important than ever to make sure our voices are being heard and not being silenced.
As the song fades with a calmer instrumental, it feels as though there's hope of a good outcome. A transition from an intense fury to a new day.
At Peace in the Hundred Acre Wood
Almost a continuation of Burn It Down, the final track on the album is hopeful.
At Peace in the Hundred Acre Wood is watching a sunrise. After the heavy themes throughout the album, the track conveys a final hopeful message. Despite the dark places we've been - and in some cases still are, every day starts with a new sunrise.
Conclusion
Singin' to an Empty Chair is an album that surprised me. Being unfamiliar with Ratboys' music until now, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth and variety of this album. The way it flows between indie rock, alt-country, and folk so effortlessly keeps every track interesting and engaging.
The concept and vulnerability showed through the lyrics are always mind opening. Some resonate with me personally, while others give me a glimpse into someone's life. Perspective is a beautiful thing and can improve all of our lives through empathy.