Image Credit: Island Records

The Last Dinner Party have come far from their origins only four years ago in 2021. Having released their debut single, ‘Nothing Matters’, in 2023, and subsequently their critically acclaimed and record-breaking first album, Prelude to Ecstasy, last year, they return now with their stunning sophomore record, From the Pyre, an exploration of loss and grief,the death of relationships, and rebirth.

The new record is darker than their debut, showcasing the development and solidification of the band’s sound, while also allowing for experimentation. Coming in at forty-two minutes, with only ten tracks, the album is fairly short, but doesn’t feel like it. The length is perfect to exhibit the band’s range of style and sound, without feeling drawn out.

The first track, ‘Agnus Dei’, makes for a great transition between the two albums, as the chord progression is reminiscent in some places of ‘Caesar On A TV Screen’ from their first record. This is followed by ‘Count The Ways’, a very 70s bass-led track that equates the end of a relationship to metaphorical death. This continues the funereal theme that tracks throughout the album, from the ambiguous “bells” of this song, ringing for the narrator’s lover’s wedding or simultaneously for her own funeral, to the titular pyre.This is the third track to receive a music video, following the first two singles, ‘This Is The Killer Speaking’ and ‘The Scythe’. The video itself is artfully shot, dark and reflective of the song’s sound.

We then move to ‘Second Best’, combining a choral intro with a rock inspired sound, full of spite and betrayal. This duality between the choir and heavier instrumentation is masterfully combined by the end of the track, showcasing the band’s sonic range. Then comes the single ‘This is the Killer Speaking’, the first step towards their new chapter, followed by ‘Rifle’, one of my personal favourites, a beautiful, topically-relevant anti-war expression of anger, sadness, and helplessness as lead vocalist Abigail Morris sings of “Boots and rifles [that] are stained with red”.

The sixth track, ‘Woman is a Tree’ is the most experimental of the bunch. It’s eerie, primal, and ritualistic with its disruptive structure of only six verses, building in fantastical cinematic intensity until its abrupt close as it explores the innate connection between woman and nature. The second half of the album becomes more centred around the piano, beginning with ‘I Hold Your Anger’, which explores the weight of feminine generational trauma and considers the constraints of being the nurturer. Morris steps back as keyboardist Aurora Nishevci takes the lead. The more defiant anger of the earlier tracks gives way to a cold sense of loneliness on ‘Sail Away’, a beautiful piano ballad that, even instrumentally, feels like being carried away on the waves as the lyrics explore the pain of adult trauma and abandonment while feeling nostalgic for the innocence of childhood. The desire to return to childhood is then reflected in the outro of the song, which sounds almost childlike in the quiet vow, “Take you with me everywhere, I’ll take you with me anywhere”.

The penultimate track, ‘The Scythe’ is another personal favourite of mine, continuing the theme of nostalgia and grief as Morris sings “Don’t cry, we’re bound together / Each life runs its course”. Accompanied by its simple but emotional music video, the song draws the album close to its end with a theme of acceptance and hope, which is both continued but also undermined in the final track, ‘Inferno’. The record closes on a confessional, “I keep trying, Lord, I’m trying”, as the band navigate the identity crisis brought on by fame and success. This idea of being left “nothing but a shell / Nothing but dust, in an inferno” when the stage persona fades parallels the closing track, ‘Mirror’, from their previous album, Prelude to Ecstasy, in which they sing of being “just a mirror / Pretty glass, an empty heart”.

Ultimately, this second album from The Last Dinner Party fearlessly tracks through a tumult of emotions, and having now truly come into their own sound and space in the industry, makes for a very strong comeback, stronger even than their incredible debut. It’s safe to say I’m a fan for life, and I hope that everyone has the chance to be enlightened by their unique talent and fearlessness in a highly commercialised industry.