The Last Dinner Party Ascend in ‘From the Pyre’
Written by Ev Fuss
The Last Dinner Party’s sophomore album, From The Pyre, perfectly complements its predecessors and solidifies the group's strong and lasting position in the industry. This album struck me with every track, and the mix of baroque rock with pop aesthetics leaves a spellbinding impact with every listen.
What is most striking about this album, to me, is the instrumentals. Each and every track is orchestrated like a symphony, creating an absolutely beautiful mix that complements the Renaissance aesthetics of the group. This instrumentation climaxes with the track “This Is The Killer Speaking,” which ends almost like a closing track to an orchestra, but is placed as the fourth track on the LP. The ending crescendoes like a symphony piece coming to its close, but the placement allows the track to almost serve as a closing before an intermission, allowing the rest of the album to breathe in a different air.
The lyrics throughout From the Pyre carry similar themes to the group's debut LP, Prelude to Ecstasy, with references to heartbreak, love, femininity, and female power executed masterfully through allusions to death and mythology. Lead singer and lyricist Abigail Morris makes every word impactful with her stunning vocals, hauntingly carrying out aspects of female rage that continue to echo after listening. Circling back to “This Is The Killer Speaking,” the only explicit song on the album, which uses such language to emphasize a breakdown before the aforementioned symphonic crescendo of an ending, as Morris sings, “Hope my television appearance drives you fucking mad!” This line is an emotional culmination of all that comes before it, and I can honestly say that it hasn’t left my mind since my first listen.
Other standout tracks on the album include “Count the Ways” and “I Hold Your Anger.” The first of these embodies the feelings of heartbreak and longing for someone who can’t be what you need for one reason or another. As this past lover moves on, Morris carries the sorrow and anger that come with trying to move on. Shifting to the hardships of femininity, the band’s keyboardist, Aurora Nishevci, takes lead vocals on what may be my favorite track, “I Hold Your Anger.” She sings “‘Cause I’m woman / And I’m mother / Oh, I’m a ship inside a bottle / ‘Til the levee breaks / I don’t want to break,” capturing what it feels like to have to hold a strong front and suppress personal pain to make space for the pain of others. The line that lingered with me when the album ended was “I’ve nеver known / Where othеrs begin and I end / But it's always you before me / Until the gods come crashing down.” It’s always so healing to have a song poetically capture things that you’ve felt through gracefully thought-out lines and choruses. Nishevci doesn’t give in to the traditional standards of being a woman, but instead draws attention to a reality that still exists and is often unavoidable. These feelings aren’t exclusive to femininity and womanhood, but they are an inescapable condition of being, which is oftentimes further expressed through factors like motherhood. These two tracks resonated the most with me, but the entire album works together to make them so great.
From The Pyre rises from the ashes with a masterfully crafted set of tracks that will echo in your head for days. It’s thrilling to see The Last Dinner Party carve a name for themselves, forging a unique sound that is accessible to anyone willing to truly listen. The group will be going on a world tour following this release, with more information on their official website. Stream From The Pyre wherever you get your music.
