A much hyped, but also arguably merited debut by the London five-piece of luxuriant, theatrical rock-pop with some echoes of Abba, and lavishly super-produced by James Ford. The Last Dinner Party are turning into the biggest thing since indie darlings Wet Leg, but while varieties of post-punk has been in vogue for a few years, so also is are the trappings of musical opulence akin to rock opera or a stage musical. See for example, recent work by supergroup FIZZ, or last week’s release by Bristol’s Erotic Secrets of Pompeii. TLDP’s album actually opens with a showy classical prelude, but once the curtain is fully raised, it’s hard not to admire the songwriting, highly accomplished musicianship of the band and also soaring voice of Abigail Morris. The album was recorded a year ago, and after only a handful of singles, the band are already in mainstream circles, doing the chatshow circuit, and hitting a Florence + The Machine demographic. But while this can be off-putting to the more discerning music fan, and while this has happened rather quickly, there’s still much to admire, with sublime pop tracks such as Caesar On A TV Screen, My Lady of Mercy, Sinner, or the defiant Nothing Matters, both of have that Abba vibe with a dash of Sparks, or the cutting lyrics of, for example, the the piano, guitar solo and gospel style number Portrait of A Dead Girl, which describes being with in a dangerously bad relationship with a wolf-like lover (“I felt like one of those portraits of women protected by a beast on a chain” and “the time I wasted in my mouth”). It closes on a swaggering almost Bond-style soundtrack number, Mirror, which confidently, but melodramatically poses the question: “If I drown will they make me a star?”, but “When you drown don’t forget who you are.” That’s fame for you. A very big debut indeed. Out on Universal.
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