Ratboys - Singin' to an Empty Chair (GREEN CASSETTE) - CASSETTES

Despite it's title, Ratboys' new album Singin' to an Empty Chair is not defined by what's missing. Rather, it's the beginning of an important dialogue with a close loved one, vocalist Julia Steiner finds herself estranged from. The music on the band's sixth studio album - it's first for New West Records - fills the space that person left behind with 11 songs showcasing Ratboys at the peak of their powers - twangy, effervescent, as confident as they've ever been, and perhaps more emotionally interrogative than ever before. The four-piece Chicago band followed up 2023's highly acclaimed The Window by reconvening with co-producer Chris Walla to begin tracking at a rural Wisconsin cabin before taking the songs to Steve Albini's famed Electrical Audio studios in Chicago and later to Rosebud Studio in Evanston, Illinois. The results veer from bubbly power-pop on InchAnywhereInch to irresistible post-country on InchPenny in the Lake,Inch along with heart-piercing ballads like InchJust Want You to Know the TruthInch and an exhilarating detour into the extraterrestrial on InchLight Night Mountains All That,Inch which Steiner dubs the band's mammoth Inchwormhole jam.Inch Singin' to an Empty Chair also marks the first Ratboys album written since Steiner began therapy, which the singer/lyricist credits for the clarity found across the album's unflinching examinations of relationship and self. Fittingly, as the album begins by extending a hand into the void, it concludes with a scene of serenity - all while weaving candid honesty, humor, chaos, and whimsy along the way. InchIt's not all doom and gloom,Inch Steiner says. InchThe experience of making this record definitely gives me hope for whatever happens next.Inch

Taeko Onuki - Cahier [SUPER-AUDIO CD] Bonus Track, Hybrid SACD, Rmst, Japan - Import date 12/10/2021

Ratboys have been recording and releasing music for over a decade, but their newest album, The Window, marks the first time they'd ever traveled outside their home base of Chicago to make a record, journeying to the Hall of Justice Recording Studio in Seattle to work with producer Chris Walla. The sessions with Walla (Death Cab for Cutie, Tegan and Sara, Foxing) struck the perfect balance between preparation and experimentation, injecting new life into the band's style of soft-hearted Midwestern indie rock with an ever so subtle Americana twist. The solidified Ratboys lineup stretched and expanded their vision in the studio, adding unexpected elements and instruments like rototoms, talkboxes, and fiddles. The result is Ratboys' most sonically diverse record, shifting wildly from track to track. It flexes everything from fuzzy power pop choruses on InchCrossed That LineInch and InchIt's Alive!Inch to a warm country twang on InchMorning ZooInch to mournful folk on the titular track. After more than ten years and four studio albums, The Window finally captures Ratboys as they were always meant to be heard-expansive while still intimate, audacious while still tender-the sound of four friends operating as a single, cohesive unit.1. Making Noise for the Ones You Love2. Morning Zoo3. Crossed That Line4. It's Alive5. No Way6. The Window7. Empty8. Break9. Black Earth, WI10. I Want You (Fall of 2010)11. Bad Reaction