If artists’ catalogues are often able to be divided into defined eras, each album distinct from the next, The Last Dinner Party are doing things differently. Their second album, ‘From The Pyre’, is, they say, not so much an about-turn or sea change but an evolution and natural progression from their 2024 debut, ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’. Where that first record introduced the London band as a baroque-pop outfit with a penchant for the theatrical, its follow-up builds on that impression, darker, more dramatic and a little more developed.
Recorded in spring 2025 with Markus Dravs, ‘From The Pyre’ in part captures the aftermath of the five-piece being thrust into the spotlight and the toxic effects of suddenly being some corners of the internet’s most heavily debated topics. “This heart of mine’s a glorified abscess / In high demand, I feel the need / To confess,” Abigail Morris admits, later calling herself “nothing but a shell”.
Rather than let the online comments drag them down, though, The Last Dinner Party have returned renewed and in supremely confident form. Their second album is driven by character-led stories – signalled by the band in different iterations on its artwork, sometimes straddling a motorbike, at others flailing a sword around. ‘This Is The Killer Speaking’ is a murder ballad about being ghosted, while the seething ‘Rifle’ puts the band in the position of a mother whose child has gone on to wage war on the world. The warm piano pop of ‘Hold Your Anger’ positions them in the world of parenthood once more, but this time pondering if they’d be fit for the role.
The personal is still in plentiful supply, even if packaged in these vignettes. The choral pop of ‘Second Best’ was initially inspired by a relationship guitarist Emily Roberts went through, growing with her bandmates’ experiences as they completed it together and built it into a dancing ode to not being someone’s priority. ‘The Scythe’ is ‘From The Pyre’’s most affecting moment, Morris intertwining the twin themes of a breakup and the death of her father. “Don’t cry, we’re bound together / Each life runs its course / I’ll see you in the next one,” she sings solemnly over a gently sparkling chorus.
‘From The Pyre’ arrives just under two years after The Last Dinner Party swirled onto the scene properly with their debut, but never feels as if it’s been hurried to capitalise on momentum. Instead, it’s an accomplished listen – still as deliciously dramatic as ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’, fleshing out their world more and more with daring, dashing songs of true depth.
Details
- Record label: Island Records
- Release date: October 17, 2025