Ever since watching their captivating live performance at the Non-Commvention in May, the staff at JBE has had our eye on Chicago-based quintet Brigitte Calls Me Baby. After experiencing the group’s live presence, it was clear how much the crooning of singer Wes Leavins really does channel the moodiness of Morrissey and the seemingly effortless vocal range of Roy Orbison. Leavins also has a knack for delivering melancholy lyrics over happy, upbeat music, taking listeners on an unexpected emotional journey. With lyrical themes reflecting on desire, anxiety, and the realities of impermanence, the music weaves between ‘80s new wave and alternative indie pop. While Brigitte has a distinct retro vibe, all of these ingredients are mixed together into a musical recipe that sounds fresh and unlike anything else in the Triple A format right now.
Fans were first introduced to the band with the 2023 EP This House Is Made of Corners, and the five songs from that EP are included on the band’s full length debut, The Future Is Our Way Out, which dropped on August 2 via ATO. Partially recorded at RCA Studio A in Nashville with Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton), The Future Is Our Way Out also features a selection of songs self-produced by Leavins and his bandmates: guitarists Jack Fluegel and Trevor Lynch, bassist Devin Wessels, and drummer Jeremy Benshish.
The lead single, the ‘80s-infused anthem “We Were Never Alive,” has moved up to #25 on the tracks chart and the album is #22 on the Non-Comm chart, thanks to support from KCLC, KUTX, Radio Milwaukee, WYEP, WXRT and many others.
“Devin wrote the music to that song and I loved how dramatic it felt, so the goal was to match that drama in the lyrics,” says Leavins of the single. “It became a song about how in the grand scheme of existence, the time we’re alive is so brief and insignificant. At some point, after you’re gone, when everyone who knew you is gone as well, it’s almost as if you never existed at all.”
In choosing a title for the full-length debut, Brigitte harkened back to a phrase that Leavins scrawled onto a white t-shirt as a teenager and continued to revisit over the years. “I want to be earnest even when it’s uncomfortable and write unapologetically about things like my intense fear of death,” says Leavins. “The Future is Our Way Out is about that fear, but it’s also about hoping there might be something beyond death, a way out of all the mess and the sadness that plagues us in life.”
Following their first-ever performances at Summerfest and Lollapalooza, the group will be on the road all through September and October, playing a mix of headlining shows and opening for Airbourne Toxic Event. Brigitte also will take the stage at WXPN’s XPoNential Music Festival in September, and the band will release “Too Easy” as the next single.
Photo by Scarlet Page
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