And now for something completely different, we head to Melbourne, Australia, where producer Adam Kyriakou turns his crate-digging obsession into something gloriously maximal under the moniker of Department. On his Audacity Files LP, you won’t hear the heavy riffs and heartfelt screams usual in these columns, but girl-group melodrama slammed against trip-hop beats, electronic haze, and plush R&B, bold, bruised, and thrillingly overstuffed.

You wouldn’t expect it at first listen, but this debut album carries real weight, as it’s born from heartbreak, industry dead ends, and a soul-resetting expedition to Macedonia, though it never wallows. This is a dense, sample-delic rush that feels less retro than time-collapsing, a 21st-century wall of sound that’s far outside my comfort zone, but strangely addictive.

Audacity Files—recorded, arranged, produced, and mixed By Adam Kyriakou—is out now digitally (self-released).

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