What’s next for The Last Dinner Party?
In April 2023, upon the release of ‘Nothing Matters’, a new star was born. The Last Dinner Party were unleashed onto the world like a hooky pop phenomenon, sending their musical melodrama onto the airwaves and putting the growth of their fanbase into hyperspeed. But that wasn’t the start and won’t be the end.
The start was actually well before that when the band, initially called The Dinner Party, began gigging around London’s live music scene. They played all the city’s favourite venues, like The Windmill and The George Tavern, and they worked their way onto the festival circuit too, with their name changing to the one we know now, adorning almost every lineup going in 2022 and 2023. In short, the band clearly worked hard, and along the way, they built up a true cult of followers.
Before they’d released a single song, people were singing along at their shows. Early live performances of tracks like ‘Portrait Of A Dead Girl’ and ‘Sinner’ stuck with their early crowds, and before the record was even announced, let alone these songs being out, people knew them and loved them. It meant that even if ‘Nothing Matters’ hadn’t blown up big time, there were already hungry ears waiting for Prelude To Ecstacy, but the singles that came before its release sent it all into overdrive.
What followed was a success story rarely seen in recent years. Here is a rock band playing rock music, albeit with a sirenic vocal atop the rhythms, receiving the buzz and excitement that has typically only been reserved for pop acts or TikTok viral artists lately. The band’s success, as the venue sizes grew swiftly from pubs to 5000-capacity venues, from small tents to Glastonbury’s Other Stage, proved that the system could still work. Talent could still be spotted early, supported by labels as Island helped them create their adventurous debut and get the reaction it deserves when it’s offered out to the world.
Less than two years after their debut single, the band is nominated for several Brit awards and has fostered global obsession—but what happens next? The next step is obviously album two, but who knows what that will look or sound like.
Part of that mystery comes down to the fact that the world never saw the band working on their debut. By their first gigs, they already had the songs from that album locked in, morphing slightly over time but largely already being envisioned and ready. The group were granted permission to record their entire record before any singles came out as a clear sign of trust from their label, so there was no commercialising game of testing a certain sound out, seeing if it works with sales and then adapting it. The group’s opening remark was an incredible bold and confident one for a brand new act as they kicked down the doors to the music world and say ‘here you go’, offering up who they were and what they made with no questions to be asked or answered. But now they’re known, that becomes trickier.
That’s why the idea of the ‘tricky second album’ exists. When it comes to their sophomore release, an act is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If you change too much, you can let people down and isolate old fans. Don’t change enough, and people will claim you’re a one-trick pony. If musicians allow themselves too much time to stress about that or allow themselves to be rushed into cashing in on the hype of their debut, they can come to regret it, as was the experience of many artists, from Kate Bush to Sam Fender.
Are The Last Dinner Party working on a second album?
It’s clear that the band are working behind the scenes. On their most recent tour, they played new songs live. Titled ‘Big Dog’ and ‘The Killer’, these unreleased tracks are now part of their setlist, suggesting they’re being tried out on the road in the future. Both have more of a heavier feel to them, rather than the ethereal energy of their debut. ‘Big Dog’ is a roaring rock song as Abigail Morris screams her way through it and Emily Roberts lets loose on the power chords. Meanwhile, ‘The Killer’ is pure theatre that descends into a honky tonk breakdown. If they’re anything to go off, the aesthetics seem to be shifting, the instrumentations getting rockier, and the band getting dramatic with it.
But really, the question is less about what the band will do next and more about whether they will be allowed to. The issue with quick-rising stars is that they often fall fast, too, rarely due to a lack of their own talent but mostly due to fans’ fleeting attention being shifted elsewhere. Big buzzy acts like The Last Dinner Party have a tough time keeping that buzz going, as the hype is often harboured by fans who care one minute and have moved on the next.
The Last Dinner Party don’t deserve that, though. They more than have the talent to endure as a leading light of this generation’s musical landscape. While a hefty proportion of their fans filtered in with their quick boom in fame, it’s important to never underestimate that initial cult, which may well prove to be a saving lifeline for the band if they do choose to evolve beyond the sound and style that caused the frenzy.
