Do you live for the drama? If yes, then Irreversible by Brigitte Calls Me Baby is for you. The Chicago-based band’s second album is a rush of emotionally inconsolable rock, perfect for people who missed New Wave’s millennial second coming or are still nostalgic for its first 1980s go-around. You can spend your time playing spot the influence (The Smiths, New Order, The Killers, The Strokes, etc.) or just give yourself over to the big feelings. Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s Wes Leavins grew up in Port Arthur, Texas, and the group recorded its 2024 debut, The Future Is Our Way Out, with prodigious Nashville producer Dave Cobb, whom Leavins met while working on music for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic. The album spawned the single “Impressively Average,” which impressively broke through on the alternative charts. Irreversible feels even more radio-ready. To make it, Brigitte Calls Me Baby headed west to Los Angeles, where they worked with brothers Yves and Lawrence Rothman. The result is an album with a widescreen sheen and arena-ready aspirations. Irreversible plays all the way to the cheap seats, whether it‘s with shimmering bursts like “I Danced with Another Love in My Dream” or grandiose, heartsick ballads like “Send Those Memories.” Let it be the soundtrack to your own coming-of-age moment.