The Last Dinner Party have a knack for transcending not only genre, but perhaps music itself. If their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, was a baroque work of art, then their follow-up, From the Pyre, is an arthouse horror film.
As femgore and body horror continue to thrive in the world of literature and cinema, The Last Dinner Party inject that same earthy bloodlust and heightened drama into alternative music.
Opener Agnus Dei introduces the melodrama, declaring “Here comes the apocalypse”, where love and violence are one and the same as Abigail Morris sings, ‘one kiss and I was disembowelled'. Count The Ways turns heartbreak into a crime of passion dripping with blood as it conjures up images of snake bites, stabbings and bitter poisons.
Rifle is as beautiful as it is ominous, bringing to mind PJ Harvey’s White Chalk era. Jumping back and forth in its speed and intensity, its soaring, gothic vocals and choral incantations (sung in French, no less) fuel the creepy vibes. Woman Is A Tree opens with gentle abstract vocals which turn into a cathartic yell.
This Is The Killer Talking is an instant hit, diving headfirst into the Southern Gothic, reminiscent of Nick Cave’s bluesy macabre classic Red Right Hand. Here, ghosting is made into something as sinister as the name suggests, twisted into a more extravagant and viscous act.
The Scythe is another highlight; less feral, but perhaps the most hard-hitting as it meditates on death and grief. Grounded in the belief that death is not the end, and that two souls can find one another in every lifetime, it’s a devastating listen. Here, “Butcher my heart” is not the gory depiction of love we’ve heard throughout the record; it's an image not of pain, but of vulnerability, of invitation.
Prelude To Ecstasy introduced The Last Dinner Party as one of the UK’s most thrilling new bands. From the Pyre deepens an already limitless artistic vision with even richer lyricism, a masterclass in raw emotion and irresistible atmosphere that lures you in and devours you whole.
