The Last Dinner Party were the breakout UK stars of 2023, with the release of the single ‘Nothing Matters’. They’d already enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame, opening for Nick Cave and The Rolling Stone.
Their sound leans heavily on 1970s glam rock – there are traces of ABBA, Queen, and Sparks. The five-piece band don’t feature a drummer. They’re strong musicians – lead guitarist Emily Roberts played in a Queen tribute band.
They’re yet to release a fully satisfying album, but they have some great moments.
The Last Dinner Party Album Reviews
Prelude to Ecstasy
2024, 7.5/10
The Last Dinner Party are 2024’s hip new UK band. Prelude to Ecstasy has topped the UK charts. It’s not surprising, as there’s a lot of personality. They have a distinctive look with corsets. The songwriting doesn’t always measure up to the band’s assured energy – perhaps not surprising for a debut from an ambitious band.
Lead single ‘Nothing Matters’ towers over the rest of the record. Vocalist Abigail Morris sounds gloriously arch spitting out the hook (“I will f*** you/Like nothing matters”). It’s a little like an emotionally conflicted late-1970s ABBA track, with traces of Sparks’ theatrical madness.
The rest of the record struggles to reach such lofty heights. But ‘Burn Alive’ is memorable, with its soaring melodic flourishes. ‘My Lady of Mercy’ brushes close to ridiculousness with its theatrical vocals and glammy guitars – it’s flimsy but fun. The band’s less convincing on slower material like ‘Beautiful Boy’ – when they turn down the fun and energy levels, the songwriting skill’s not always there.
Prelude to Ecstasy is fun But the band’s second album will need better songwriting chops if they want a lasting career.
From the Pyre
2025, 7.5/10
The Last Dinner Party were breakout stars in the UK last year, making waves with their harmony-laden art pop, reminiscent of Queen, ABBA, and Kate Bush. I’m impressed that they’re back with their second album a year later. There’s nothing as immediate as ‘Nothing Matters’ from their previous record, but it feels deeper and more substantial.
We just managed to distill the harmonies into five parts for every song. There’s something really special about being able to make that sound on your own, with just five bodies, without instruments. It’s very primal to be able to just do that.
Abigail Morris, Interview Magazine
The start of the record is especially strong. Their theatrical roots shine through on the “Here comes the apocalypse” line on the opening ‘Agnus Dei’. “Now my house is your house/And it is a nice house” is another great theatrical moment on ‘Count the Ways’. Sometimes the record veers into weird directions like the trippy, off-kilter ‘Woman is a Tree’ and the creepy ‘This is the Killer Speaking’.
This band have all the ingredients to be terrific, hopefully there’s still some growth to come.
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