Edited by Madison Challis; written by Cameron Cade
The year is 2024, and another femme-fronted alt-rock band is labelled an industry plant by detractors. It’s perennial at this point (anyone remember when Wet Leg first appeared?).
I consider myself relatively tuned into new music, yet The Last Dinner Party’s meteoric rise caught me off guard. “Caesar on A TV Screen” was my first exposure to this band, and it was a revelation! Half 2010’s UK Indie music, half operatic rock. I assumed this was their debut, only to be bombarded by the news that these guys had been making the rounds in London and supporting Hozier and Florence + the Machine, building up one of the most interesting word-of-mouth reputations for a band with no EPs or albums. Unsurprisingly, this earned them the badge of “industry plant”; its current internet parlance as a misogynistic weapon against new artists is a discussion for another time and one that, if continued, would demean the incredible debut album that is Prelude To Ecstasy.
Prelude to Ecstasy is full of shocking twists and risks that only a new band with no expectations put upon them could take but rarely do. For example, the audacious title track that opens the debut Indie Rock album is a soaring orchestral track that elicits the feeling of ’60s blockbuster opening credits and immediately enraptured me. Or even the bold choice to include an Albanian Folk-inspired interlude (“Gjuha”). Miraculously, it’s pitch-perfect and a symbol that this band has creativity beyond their experience.
There is an obvious comparison here, of course. A divinely feminine album that exudes artistry, flaunts an instrument list that would make an orchestra blush, and is lyrically dense? Florence + the Machine kept coming to mind. James Ford (frequent producer for Florence + the Machine) on the production side of Prelude to Ecstasy supports that comparison. What The Last Dinner Party does with that influence is incredible. Take “Caesar on a TV Screen”, an incredibly theatrical song about the infectious power of appearing masculine. It bounces from sinister to that poppier side of indie rock that Florence + the Machine often inhabits, and then switches up into this catchy chorus that I imagine is euphoric when chanted with an eager audience. It is hard not to be caught up in the infectious energy brought by each song.
Vocal performances in this album pull from many directions, including Queen, Pixies, David Bowie, and ABBA. I will never believe you can saturate an album with vocal harmonies, and this album is bursting at the seams with them. They are beautiful, but they never seek to overwhelm other aspects of the song.
The production on the drums is a highlight, switching effortlessly from booming to punchy, perfectly complementing the orchestra and creating this incredibly vivid sound. “Sinner,” for example, has this incredibly dynamic sound that evokes the Pixies/Grunge soft verse-loud chorus structure.
“My Lady of Mercy” feels the most upbeat of all the tracks, which is admittedly not saying much for an album as gothic-sounding as this. The vocal performances, once again, are outstanding, flowing seamlessly from a Kate Bush-sounding verse to an incredible heavenly choir in the chorus. The chorus itself is a thunderous departure from the rest of the album, with booming drums and heavy, distorted guitars– an exhilarating change of pace for any listeners who may have tuned out.
I have harped on about the vocal performances, but a vocal performance can live and die by the lyrics. Prelude to Ecstasy is so lyrically mature for a band that is so green. Beautiful and provocative metaphors (“Portrait of a Dead Girl”, “Ceasar on a TV Screen”), emotive and evocative imagery (“Nothing Matters”), and catchy hooks (“Sinner”) work together to create a rich, ornate, and baroque tapestry.
More than anything, Prelude to Ecstasy is a bold and ridiculous undertaking for a band's debut. The idea that a band would make art for art's sake this early in their career is incredible. I’m sorry to bring it back to this but what I think irks me the most about “industry plant” jabs is the idea that artists beginning their ascension can’t be this creative or bold. The idea that creativity is an earned quality that only those who have been in the industry possess, and not a skill that anyone can pick up is perverse and damaging for new artists. I am glad that they are taking these comments in stride. I would hate to live in a world where this was the last thing we heard from The Last Dinner Party.
Prelude to Ecstasy