Ratboys have announced a deluxe edition of their latest album, Singin’ to an Empty Chair. Due out September 25 on New West Records, the expanded version features covers of tracks from the album by PUP, Wild Pink, Ducks Ltd., Bad Bad Hats, and Free Range. Ratboys also threw in a cover of their own, a version of Texas punk band the Marked Men’s “Fix My Brain” recorded for SiriusXM earlier this year; check that out below.
“We thought it’d be fun to cover one of our favorite songs and then to ask some of our closest friends and biggest inspirations in music to put their spin on some of our new songs,” lead singer and guitarist Julia Steiner said. “It’s a total trip and such an honor to hear the album songs transformed into something new entirely, and we can’t say thank you enough to our pals for making it happen.”
The band paired the announcement with the release of their first NPR Tiny Desk Concert. During the set, they performed older favorite“Black Earth, WI” as well as two songs off Singin’ to an Empty Chair: “Penny in the Lake” and “What’s Right?” They’ll bring their live show to a number of UK, European, and North American cities later this year on a tour with Smidley, the solo project of Foxing frontman Conor Murphy.
Revisit Nina Corcoran’s profile Ratboys Are Playing the Long Game.
Singin’ to an Empty Chair (Deluxe):
01 Open Up
02 Know You Then
03 Light Night Mountains All That
04 Anywhere
05 Penny in the Lake
06 Strange Love
07 The World, So Madly
08 Just Want You to Know the Truth
09 What’s Right?
10 Burn It Down
11 At Peace in the Hundred Acre Wood
12 Fix My Brain (SiriusXM Session)
13 Know You Then (PUP)
14 Light Night Mountains All That (Ducks Ltd.)
15 Anywhere (Bad Bad Hats)
16 Strange Love (Wild Pink)
17 What’s Right? (Free Range)