Emerging British band The Last Dinner Party may be on the radar for a lot of people right now, but they’re trying hard to avoid words like “buzzy” and “hype,” according to a new interview with NME. Their debut album, Prelude To Ecstasy, is due out on February 2, 2024, and features all of their singles from this year: “My Lady of Mercy,” “Sinner,” “Nothing Matters,” and “On Your Side.”
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“We’re trying to ignore the words ‘hype’ and ‘buzzy band’ and just focus on what grounds us: playing, writing and rehearsing our music,” said frontwoman Abigail Morris. She also admitted that their current experience with rising fame “can feel a bit like going in a car really fast and not being in charge of the steering wheel.”
According to bass player Georgia Davies, The Last Dinner Party intentionally took a while to release any music. “It was about the experience in its entirety, rather than instant recognition from singles,” she said. Additionally, the band said they wanted to excel at performing live before releasing a full album, which is why they embarked on a North American tour with only a few songs in the lineup.
“From the beginning, before we even had one rehearsal, we decided that our visuals would be just as important as the music. We wanted the whole thing to be an entire spectacle,” said Morris. When deciding on those visuals, Morris explained, “We imagined the kind of joyful, exciting act we’d want to see when we go out, and created our own ‘dream band’ from that.”
As for the album and the band’s image, they’ve been dubbed “baroque-pop” by many outlets, a pretty good description of their interesting genre blend. The single “My Lady of Mercy” feels a little like Ghost mixed with PJ Harvey. “Sinner” feels a lot like Kate Bush with a heavier edge. “Nothing Matters” is moody, Victorian, and extravagant. With each new single they sent a gold-embossed invite, with Prelude To Ecstasy being our first step over the threshold into the indulgence and excess of The Last Dinner Party.
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