The Last Dinner Party - ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’ review
The Last Dinner Party by Cal McIntyre
The Last Dinner Party have released their highly anticipated debut album Prelude to Ecstasy. The Brixton-based quintet burst onto the indie scene with lead single ‘Nothing Matters’ in April 2023.
Singer Abigail, guitarists Emily and Lizzie, keyboardist Aurora and bassist Georgia came together over ‘a wine-stained evening’. Since then have been showcasing some stellar performances and promising potential for such a young band. From courting support from the likes of St Vincent and Hozier to landing a song on the videogame EAFC 24; or fighting the industry plant allegations that always seem to arise around female-led rock bands (see the reception of Wet Leg). The band have gained an impressive virality that much of the new indie scene could only dream of, with both die-hard fans and new listeners eagerly waiting for the band’s debut LP.
Fittingly opening with a slow-building orchestral overture, in ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’ we are warmly invited into the romantic and decadent world of The Last Dinner Party. ‘Burn Alive’ sets the tone with bold lyricism influenced by Romantic and Gothic Literature. Abby sings “I am not the girl I set out to be/Let me make my grief a commodity/Do what I can to survive” in a courageous starting track sonically reminiscent of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ ‘Spellbound’. Indeed, you will soon find yourself hypnotised by the band’s dizzying sound as you delve into this riotous record.
The album explores themes of loss and heartbreak along with identity, guilt, and girlhood, with all the bodice-ripping melodrama of your favourite romantic heroine. If you had to define the band to a genre, suggestions might include indie rock, art rock or baroque pop. However, they are in no way bound by these genre constraints. In ‘Caesar on the TV Screen’ tempos rise and lull just to stop as abruptly before familiar refrains return as Abby sings of visions of grandeur and longing for control. The band up the ante with ‘The Feminine Urge’ before diving back into the sorrowful swing of ballad ‘On Your Side’. The stirring ‘Beautiful Boy’ begins with a melancholy flute solo before a deep interrogation of gender roles.
Upon first listen the album may sound slow-paced at moments, but these are moments purposefully selected and planned. The band guide us through flurrying emotions, building glorious imagery just to tear it down. Haunting melodies break into unrelenting crescendos before returning to moments of stillness. There is a somewhat out-of-place interlude in ‘Gjuha’, an Albanian-language song led by Aurora, that while beautifully constructed, does not quite fit among the rest of the record. However, as the bass thunders into the chorus of the catchy ‘Sinner’, it’s clear these girls aren’t messing around, and they are the real deal.
Following up with the unyielding ‘My Lady of Mercy’, a song exploring religion and desire, the band are at their peak when they are at their most passionate. The comparably softer ‘Portrait of a Dead Girl’ focuses on storytelling, building to the victorious ‘Nothing Matters’, the thrilling and raucous cherry atop this rich and indulgent cake. The band are rejoined by orchestral accompaniment for their final track ‘Mirror’, a sultry conclusion to this impassioned journey. It is the band’s classical influences in combination with a cinematic production (a la famed Arctic Monkeys producer James Ford) that makes the band unique. The group can marry their intrigue and freshness with slicker and more refined production for an exciting sound entirely their own. It is somewhat formulaic throughout, but nonetheless delightful.
Altogether, the album displays a fiery confidence that only looks to grow. Prelude To Ecstasy is a shining first record for a band brimming with possibility and promise. If this triumphant debut is anything to go by, the rise of The Last Dinner Party is set to be stratospheric.
Prelude to Ecstasy from The Last Dinner Party is out now via Universal Music and available on all good streaming platforms.
