Why release a run-of-the-mill indie album when you can dial up the drama to 11? That is precisely what The Last Dinner Party have done with their debut. The album starts with a full orchestral introduction and gets bigger as 'Burn Alive' sweeps in. The current single, 'Caesar On A TV Screen,' is next and sounds like three songs in one. As an opening to a debut album, it is quite a statement.
With the arrival of the fourth track, 'The Feminine Urge,' things settle down, but even this bursts into life in the chorus. 'On Your Side' finally delivers something more traditional but still sprinkled with baroque magic. 'Beautiful Boy' is, well, beautiful, as is the Albanian-language call to home 'Gjuha' (why wouldn't you have a tiny Albanian-language song kick off Side B of your album?)
'Sinner' switches things up, having a whiff of Sparks in verse before going a bit Britpop meets Florence & The Machine for the chorus (it is better than I'm making it sound!). It is a song championed by BBC 6Music, like the next track, 'My Lady Of Mercy' with its massive goth-rock chorus.
'Portrait Of A Dead Girl' hits prog-pop hard as the record heads to the almost final track, ironically, the first track they released. 'Nothing Matters' was the song that started the buzz nearly a year ago. This buzz has led them to be BBC 6Music darlings and win the Brits Rising Star and the BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024 awards. The record is rounded out by 'Mirror, ' my favourite track after my first few listens.
If you are a Kate Bush, St Vincent, Florence & The Machine, and even Queen fan and want some drama in your record collection, this album could be right up your street. It has superb musicianship and vocals, big, over-the-top songs, and is excellent live - I was lucky to catch them supporting First Aid Kit in Liverpool last summer, and they blew me away.
This is the exclusive Rough Trade version of the album, limited to just 2000 copies. It comes on cream vinyl with a bonus CD of 5 exclusive versions of the album's tracks recorded with an orchestra at Church Studios in London. If you are quick, it is still available for £27. Alternatively, it can be picked up on Oxblood vinyl for the same price.
Tracks To Try: 'Caesar On A TV Screen', 'The Feminine Urge', 'Sinner', 'My Lady Of Mercy', 'Nothing Matters', 'Mirror'