Audio File: The Last Dinner Party emerges from the dark with “Prelude To Ecstacy”
Written by Anna Porter. Graphic by Anna Porter.
To powerfully kick off the month of February, indie pop group The Last Dinner Party released their debut album, “Prelude To Ecstacy,” on February 2nd. The five-member band, led by Abigail Morris, has seemingly emerged out of nowhere and has dominated the TikTok music advertising space recently. As someone who typically doesn’t buy into TikTok music advertising, I wrote off the band for a while, but after hearing a lot of talk about the release of their debut album, I decided to give it a chance. As I went into this without having heard any of The Last Dinner Party’s songs before, I was blown away. The album is sonically dynamic, taking you through an ebbing and flowing soundscape, with powerful lyrical imagery that establishes the band’s overall dark and medieval aesthetic.
The album opens with “Prelude To Ecstacy,” a cinematic-level instrumental track (if you know me, you know I love a good instrumental track,) complete with orchestral instruments such as brass and cymbals. It truly transports you into the headspace the band is in and hints at what you can expect throughout the rest of the album. The strong vocals of Abigail Morris hit in Track 2, a fairly safe and catchy song reminiscent of some of Florence + The Machine’s recent work in “Dance Fever.” Typically upon first listening to an album, I’m more focused on sound and production, but many lyrics from “Burn Alive” stuck out to me, such as “There is candle wax melting in my veins.” If you enjoy darker poetic lyrics, this album is most definitely for you.
Throughout the first half of the album, the band continues to bring you into their world. In “The Feminine Urge,” one of my standouts from the album, the topic of femininity and generational trauma is brought up as well as the constant feeling of being crushed by the world despite giving all you can. A favorite lyric of mine is “Oh ballerina bend under the weight of it all // Aint it fun to hold the world in your hands?” The lyrical mastery of this band is evident as they present a situation universal to many with a fresh delivery. The vocal style in this song, as well as a few others in the album, reminds me of Marina and the Diamonds’ early sound with over-enunciated vowels and fun rhyming schemes.
Toward the middle, the album slows down, and Gjuha, sung in Albanian, provides a brief interlude. The sound feels reflective, and is scattered with guitar plucks and an angelic-sounding chorus. The latter half of the album immediately picks up with “Sinner,” one of the previously released singles and perhaps the most standout hook on the record. This track feels like the climax of the narrative and delves into the topic of religion and sexuality which becomes a defining theme of the album.
“Prelude To Ecstacy” ends with a moment for self-reflection as an emerging star in the current state of the music industry, as the writer says, “If I drown, will they make me a star,” and, “I’m just a mirror, I don’t exist without your gaze.” It closes out with an amazing guitar solo, adding to the list of talents the band collectively has. The band delivers mature lyrics and sonics despite their newness; what impressed me the most was the wide variety of instrumentation and complex song compositions that are sometimes difficult to find in a debut album. I’m looking forward to seeing “The Last Dinner Party” find more success as they embark on tour – they are brimming with creativity and style, and are surely not something to be passed up.
A full-time Graphic Design major/ Advertising & Branding minor and part-time music enthusiast, Anna Porter brings her love of art and design to SCAD District as the Creative Director. Anna leads the creative team in all things visual, from website design to publication design. Her writings can be found in the “Audio File,” District’s weekly music review column where Anna provides music updates and recommendations. If Anna is not designing or listening to music (rare,) you will probably find her in the other room making a cup of tea.
