Prologue
London, 2019: Two young King’s College students, Abigail Morris and Georgia Davies, sit together in a pub, deep in discussion. Their night out has metamorphosed into a “manifesto” meeting, as they articulate all aspects of their hypothetical future band, right “down to colours…and fabrics”.
Two years later [2021], the George Tavern plays host to a fully formed group for their very first live performance. Morris (vocals), Davies (bass), and fellow King’s College alum Lizzie Mayland (vocals & guitar) join Emily Roberts (lead guitar, mandolin, flute) and Aurora Nishevci (keyboard & vocals) of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, to realise that pub crawl dream in the form of a band called The Last Dinner Party.
“We’re not closing the book or beginning a new ‘era’, but transforming and shapeshifting, vibrating with the experience and inspiration that these last few years have given us.” – The Last Dinner Party
Introduction
A few months after that debut, a YouTube video of another of their London performances caused such pandemonium that it suddenly propelled them into the music industry scene. “It was hectic: record labels, managers, lawyers, agents, magazines … It felt like another full-time job, to stay on top of that.” (Davies)
That hectic period, however, inevitably led to them being signed by Island Records. Within a year after releasing their debut single, ‘Nothing Matters’, the five-some had catapulted to the top of the UK charts. They received the 2024 Rising Star award at the Brits and won the BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024. The single also made it into the top 10 of the Billboard Adult Alternative Airplay chart in the United States.
They subsequently released their debut album, won a second Brit Award for Best New Artist [2025], and played hundreds of shows across the globe. Since opening for The Rolling Stones in 2022, the group has gone on to support the likes of Benee, Hozier, and Olivia Rodrigo. They have performed on the coveted Later… with Jools Holland show [2023] and several music festivals across the UK and Europe, including Glastonbury and Latitude.
The Lore
Their euphoric debut album Prelude to Ecstacy was released into the ether in February 2024. Produced by James Ford [Arctic Monkeys, Florence and the Machine, Gorillaz], the record debuted in the number one spot on the UK Albums Chart and became the UK’s biggest first-week-selling debut in nine years.
The twelve-track anthology included such singles as ‘Sinner’, ‘My Lady of Mercy’, ‘The Feminine Urge’, and the aforementioned ‘Nothing Matters’, undeniably establishing the group’s distinctive style and sound. Hailed by the critics, it was also nominated for the 2024 Mercury Prize.
With a classical fanfare, establishing immediately the band’s multi-layered perspective, dramatic gothic and romantic style, and their ability to draw from multiple modern and classical musical influences alike, they refuse to be placed in any one box. – SCAN
It is indeed tricky to limit the band to any one genre. Rolling Stone UK used the term “art-rock bombast” to describe ‘Nothing Matters’, but they’ve also been described as having a “distinctive baroque-pop sound and look”. While the band members themselves have claimed Queen, Chappell Roan and Lana Del Rey as some of their musical influences, they have also been compared to the likes of David Bowie, Kate Bush and Fleetwood Mac.
While they may draw from both old and new influences, there is something genuinely unique about their sound. It is difficult to put into words: a queer, feminist, powerhouse of a band that blends the modern and medieval, genre and style, connection and nostalgia, to make something quite simply fantastical.
A New Chapter
“This record is a collection of stories, and the concept of album-as-mythos binds them. ‘The Pyre’ itself is an allegorical place in which these tales originate, a place of violence and destruction but also regeneration, passion, and light. – TLDP
The band’s latest offering comes in the form of their sophomore album From The Pyre, out now. Working with Grammy award-winning producer Markus Dravs [Coldplay, Florence & The Machine, Björk], the group has delved into the world of mythical metaphors and medieval imagery to depict their very real-world experiences.
“The songs are character-driven but still deeply personal, a commonplace life event pushed to pathological extremes. Being ghosted becomes a Western dance with a killer, and heartbreak laughs into the face of the apocalypse.” – TLDP
The project’s first single, ‘This is the Killer Speaking’ [17 July], came paired with a dreamy music video directed by long-time collaborator Harv Frost. The Soho-set Country & Western – complete with a mythical centaur – epitomises the band’s inclination to genre-blend. Frost explained that “from the start it was all about creating a world in which the fans could step back into, like pages of a story book.”
Written by Morris, second single, ‘The Scythe’ [5 September], is a hauntingly beautiful break-up song, almost a decade in the making. “This song began nine years ago, like a prophecy. I wrote it before I had known anything of grief or heartbreak, how a relationship ending feels exactly the same as that person dying. Once you know how it feels to lose someone, you enter a new realm from which you can never return. (Morris)
The third and final single, ‘Second Best’ [1 October], articulates that particular pain that comes with being overlooked by someone you love. Written by Roberts, she hopes, “that the song captures the pain, anger and despair [she] felt, but most importantly the defiance and satisfaction [she] now has in being able to immortalise this person in a song and to look back on the situation with more maturity.”
The release of the ten-track collection From The Pyre also coincides with the group’s next world tour (incl. a one-off NZ show at Auckland’s Spark Arena Jan 2026).
“This record feels a little darker, more raw, and more earthy; it takes place looking out at a sublime landscape rather than seated at an opulent table. It also feels metatextual and cheeky in places, like a knowing look reflected back at ourselves.” – TLDP
Epilogue
Despite it still being early days, The Last Dinner Party has taken the world by storm in a flurry of gothic, whimsical, and artistic originality.
As a group, they have a collective goal of inspiring young girls to be whoever they want to be – loud, dramatic, confident, and proud – and they also want to break down barriers and encourage “the next generation of men to be ‘not afraid of women’” (Morris – The Guardian). The band exudes a sense of strength and loyalty to themselves and their fans, even when the rumours and discourse (that always seem to accompany any type of success) rear their ugly heads.
Their passion, poetry, and bold confidence in who they are as a band and as people will surely help them transcend as they turn the page to this next chapter.
“Our admiration of each other as artists and friends has always been our strongest asset and the force which continues to compel us through sunshine or storms.” – TLDP
