Album Review
Prelude to Ecstasy
by The Last Dinner Party
By Andy McFerren
Prelude to Ecstasy Album Art
The Last Dinner Party’s debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, is a revelation. The name is misleading. It’s not a prelude – it is simply pure ecstasy.
The Last Dinner Party is a British indie rock band that has exploded over the last year. They have gone from zero Spotify monthly listeners to nearly 4 million Spotify monthly listeners within less than a year. In fact, their rocket-like trajectory to success has sparked several comments online of people claiming that the group is a bunch of industry plants, which is a notion I have always found fascinating. After all, if they are making music as good as this album, then who cares? Maybe lay off going down the YouTube rabbit hole so often. The conspiracy theories have started to fry some circuits.
Don’t you think the music industry is a little busy with other things, like trying to convince us that Drake is still relevant rather than planting an all-female or non-binary group that makes indie rock bordering on art pop?
The Last Dinner Party’s debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, is a revelation. The name is misleading. It’s not a prelude – it is simply pure ecstasy. It’s something familiar with something new. It’s like if boygenius were a little more ethereal and into ceremonial witchcraft. It’s got hints of artists like boygenius, MUNA, Wolf Alice, Ethel Cain, and Weyes Blood.
Photo Courtesy Chuff Media
These are the clearest contemporary comparisons in music at the moment, but The Last Dinner Party remains singular.
It doesn’t feel stale or contrived, like a lot of up-and-coming artists typically do while coming up in the industry. It comes off as unapologetically authentic, and amidst a musical landscape that is full of so much falsehood and vanity, it’s a breath of fresh air.
There is no better encapsulation for this album or the band than “Nothing Matters,” the band’s first single and penultimate song on the album. It’s visceral and raw.
It starts quiet with an organ, adding vocals, and then piece by piece until an entire symphony is playing in your ears. Each word is enunciated as if every single word is abrasively punctuated with an exclamation point. And yet, they’re not yelling. Moreover, the emphasis on the “f” on “fuck” makes me believe that lead singer Abigail Morris really means it. “Fuck” is misused in contemporary music a lot, causing it to lose its meaning. But the way it’s sung in this song is nothing short of perfection. It’s virile. It’s salacious. And I believe with all my heart that she intends to do exactly what she says.
Now, is it a perfect album? No, but it’s infinitely more interesting than the majority of what has been released in the world of pop music in the last five years. It has depth with room to grow.
In short, Elizabeth Bennet and Jo March would’ve loved Prelude to Ecstasy. I fully believe that.
Photo Courtesy Universal Music Group
It’s not delicate or proper and it doesn’t play by anyone else’s rules but its own. And because of that, I can’t get enough of the album. Its subtleties, its dynamism. I already know this is going to be included in my top albums list. I’m buying my stock now, and I suggest that you do as well. The Last Dinner Party is going to be around for a while.
Make sure to follow The Last Dinner Party on Instagram. Tickets for their fall tour are on sale now.
Photo by Cal McIntyre
Photo Courtesy of Universal Music Group
Photo Courtesy Chuff Media