Irreversible

When Chicago five-piece Brigitte Calls Me Baby released their debut album in 2024, they offered up an alluring mix of yearning new wave and heartbroken retro-rock made all the more evocative by lead singer Wes Leavins towering vocals, which split the difference between Elvis Presley (whom Leavins has portrayed on-stage) and Morrissey (who himself was influenced by Presley and "the U.K. Elvis," Billy Fury). On the follow-up, Irreversible, Leavins and band lean fully into the lush, pining sound of 80s New Romantics while leaving Elvis behind but bringing along a strong Smiths sensibility. While the Morrissey comparisons are inevitable this time around, Brigitte Calls Me Baby put their own soaring, lovesick twist on influences here, resulting in a dramatic sound all their own. Recorded after a couple years of constant touring during which they worked up the new songs in front of audiences, the album was recorded at the home studios of sibling production duo Lawrence and Yves Rothman (Angel Olsen, Blondshell). With lyrics like "You didnt notice/But I promise I was there/Always," "There Always" sets the stage with a shimmery, driving synth rock and lofty melody that are only outdone by the galloping second track, "Slumber Party" ("Happiness is just a street away"). That song may be a rare instance of passionate vocals being upstaged by multiple melodic guitar hooks, including one that pauses the machine gun-like 16th-note drumming and strumming in the chorus. While much of Irreversible is similarly rousing and infectious, there are a small handful of depressed ballads on board -- the synthy " These Acts of Which Were Designed," the defeated "I Can’t Have You All to Myself," and closer "Send Those Memories" -- but these are hardly low points on what is a stirring and expertly sticky set of songs. ~ Marcy Donelson