Chicago rock band Ratboys are back with “What’s Right?,” another single taken from their forthcoming album Singin’ to an Empty Chair. The scrappy, propulsive jam motors along with a grooving drum part and jangly guitar melodies. Vocalist Julia Steiner cooks up some poetic heaters throughout the song, dropping lovelorn bangers like: “Will you look me in the eye / And promise that you’ll stay with me / ‘Til the sand meets the sky? / Like the telephone lines / That go forever?”
“We approached this song like an experiment in the studio, stitching together three different drum performances, in three different-sounding environments, to guide us through some dramatic scene changes within the song,” Steiner shared. “We referenced the tight, yet expansive sonics of The War on Drugs and the desert landscapes of Thelma & Louise. The back half of the song came to me in a dream and remains one of the few times that I’ve had the presence of mind to record an idea immediately upon waking. Most of the lyrics and melody came out in that moment, and for that I’m still mystified and extremely grateful.”
The new LP is set to arrive on February 6 via New West Records. Check out the lyric video for “What’s Right?” below, and pre-order Singin’ to an Empty Chair here.
