Carlberg left the group soon after Pulling Our Weight was released, and the group refrained from hiring another bassist, opting instead for the use of a drum machine on its next album. That release, 2006's Pet Grief, found Duncanson and Larsson turning away from the guitar-driven aspects of their first full-length and delving into synth pop in the spirit of
the Pet Shop Boys. Due to various factors, including the fact that the band didn't tour heavily in support of the album, Pet Grief failed to sell as well as its predecessor and received little attention from the mainstream music press. The Radio Dept. took their time recording material for their next album, and it wasn't until summer of 2008 that a new single, Freddie and the Trojan Horse, was released. More delays led to nothing further surfacing until the next summer, when the single David was released. The album that had been rumored to be finished in late 2008, Clinging to a Scheme, finally saw the light of day in April of 2010.
The Radio Dept. quickly followed up later that year with a single, "The New Improved Hypocrisy," that showed their unvarnished political leanings. Their next release was Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002–2010 in January of 2011. The collection compiled all the single A-sides and many of the B-sides, plus a few rarities. Also that year, the group was nominated for Band of the Year and Clinging to a Scheme was a finalist for Album of the Year at the Swedish Grammis. Though they didn't win, it spoke to the high regard the Radio Dept. had achieved in their home country. Later, they set out on a lengthy tour of North America, Latin America, and Asia. It was their last activity for a few years as their next single, "Death to Fascism," didn't come out until 2014.
During that time they became disillusioned with the contract they had with
Labrador Records and their publishers, which led to the band suing both. The album they had begun working on, a return to a shoegazey sound, was stalled in the process. Eventually, the band (now down to the duo of Duncanson and Larsson) lost its suit and began working on a new, more dance music-based album. First, they released two singles during 2015 ("Occupied" and "This Repeated Sodomy") and played at Coachella. As part of the lawsuit's settlement, the duo owed
Labrador one more album, and they delivered the politically charged Running Out of Love in late 2016. An EP, Teach Me to Forget, arrived the following summer consisting of remixes along with several brand new songs. ~ Margaret Reges & Tim Sendra, Rovi