BRIGITTE CALLS ME BABY - Irreversible

Already riding high on a fresh, invigorating debut, “The Future Is Our Way Out“, American band Brigitte Calls Me Baby have spent the last two years treading stages all over the world, feeding much of their new material to audiences in search of a response that might point the Chicago outfit in the right direction for their second album.

Having supported Morrissey on several dates of the former Smiths frontman's European tour further strengthened the bond between the band and fans of 80s new wave music, but for Brigitte Calls Me Baby, "Irreversible" is the real acid test.

With Smiths, Cure and Echo And The Bunnymen still firmly in their toolkit, Brigitte Calls Me Baby don't seem to have lost either their shine or their emotional intensity. These eleven new songs could easily have slotted into their debut album, were it not for a punchier production that leaves more room for the instrumental textures to breathe.

With "Irreversible", the band proves it's no mere flash in the pan. The jangle-pop sound of "I Danced With Another Love In My Dream", the infectious riff of "Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction" and the powerful emotional charge of the irresistible garage-rock of "Slumber Party" decidedly raise the stakes. Even the slower tracks show no sign of fatigue or routine: the elegant romanticism of "I Can't Have You All To Myself" and the more nocturnal, Blue Nile-esque synth-pop atmosphere of "Send Those Memories" are equally intense, and even the remaining tracks, like the dance-pop foray of "These Acts Of Which We're Designed", can count on well-crafted refrains and melodic flourishes.

Naturally, the element of surprise is no longer part of the equation, and Brigitte Calls Me Baby will have to reckon with the derivative nature of their sound, but in the meantime the Chicago band also manage to pull off the tricky feat of quoting themselves ("There Always", "The Early Days Of Love"), a further sign of expressive maturity.

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21/03/2026