The route from first show to first album isn’t always an easy one. Nevertheless, The Last Dinner Party seem to have fully taken it in their stride, the buzz about them getting near deafening as we approach the release of Prelude To Ecstasy. The indie rock group formed in 2021, going on to to sell out shows in 2023 and have venues upgraded due to high demand. They make it seem so easy, but as this debut album sets out to prove, they do not do things by halves. Slick production sees the band tread familiarity with brand new shoes. With the band’s gothic romance aesthetic comes a traditional darkwave sound, laced with the modern edge of London’s rising post-punk scene.
First on the debut album we have ‘Prelude’, an instrumental red velvet curtain opening the show. The movie score tone courses through glimmers of the tracks to come. Some we know well and some we’re about to hear for the first (but certainly not the last) time. The band comment that the album “is a pendulum which swings between the extremes of human emotion” and they certainly reflect this well in the music itself. All tracks yearn with a certain intensity. Some lulling us in with a gentle sway before punching in with something more guttural. The band never fall short of hitting well thought out music with raw emotion. They give their songs real power and grit while pulling it off in an elegant fashion.
‘Burn Alive’ is dark and stormy, almost hex like with vocals served under controlled rage. Meanwhile, ‘Caesar On A TV Screen’ flits between strutting nonchalantly and exploding into grandeur. There is a certain masculinity to this track, juxtaposed with the sultry intro to ‘Feminine Urge’. Once roaring like an emperor, now wishing the trees would swallow them whole – the pendulum swings again.
‘On Your Side’ is the ballad of the album, a tender look into overwhelming devotion. It comes in soft and draws emotion from the core, leaving breathless into a soaring outro. The band then strip it further back to shine a light on the pure poetry of ‘Beautiful Boy’. Even the vocals are comparatively subdued, really enforcing the lyrics as the focus of the song. The multifaceted nature of the band is clear and being only halfway through the album, there is so much more to come.
The Last Dinner Party master the art of working their tracks seamlessly together while keeping us on our toes. Following this spiritual uprising of ‘Ghuja’ comes ‘Sinner’, bringing alive the guitar. It perfectly reflects giving in to sin, twisting this way and that, trailing the exhilaration of it all. The rhythm and chants in the back are the voice of reason, grounding the mind. The guitar comes in just as strong if not a little sharper, fully taking control. It marks a change of pace in the album. The first half is dipping its toe in to ecstasy, the second half embracing it with confidence.
‘My Lady of Mercy’ comes in with claps a plenty, initially a happy little track with a sweet Kate Bush-esque tone. It then edges into intense chants of worship. One minute we’re skipping along in the park, the next we’re tumbling down the rabbit hole. It’s the epitome of innocent feelings growing in to something huge and imposing.
‘Nothing Matters’ comes at just the perfect time, a gem that somehow shines even more in the company of this album. Yet it does not cast a shadow on the other tracks, it brings them all together. The Last Dinner Party have been teasing us the whole time with this viral track of theirs. Elements of it are explored further in each track of Prelude To Ecstasy. Most notably at this stage of the album is the epic guitar solo in ‘Portrait Of A Dead Girl’. It is classic rock guitar, once observed as an extension of manhood, now backed with ferocious feminine energy. It doesn’t end here though. ‘Mirror’ serves as the encore, embracing the power of calm, but not without giving us yet another dose of that delicious guitar.
The path to Prelude To Ecstasy has been exciting, seeing the band revel in the success of the singles that have come before it. We might have already seen some extreme highs for this band, but there is no doubt that this is just the beginning.