Friday, Oct. 17, British rock band The Last Dinner Party released its sophomore album, “From The Pyre.” In this album, the group proves itself as a breath of fresh air for the rock genre.
Since its genesis, the rock band has created a strong name for themselves. Debuting with its song “Nothing Matters” and quickly entering the UK and US charts, its sound was something new, different and impossibly fun. With its historical and alternative style, it wasn’t long until The Last Dinner Party found its audience with artists like Hozier and Florence and the Machine.
In 2024, the band blew up after the release of its debut album, “Prelude to Ecstasy.” The album won the BBC Award for Sound of 2024, and The Last Dinner Party was awarded Best New Artist at the BRIT Awards. Now, less than a year later, the group has returned with another album that delivers in every respect.
With much of The Last Dinner Party’s work, there is a continuous heavy influence of historical, medieval and religious themes. An example from their first album of this type of religious influence are “Lady of Mercy” and “Sinner,” which I view as some of the best songs from that album. “From the Pyre” continues this theme, with its name referencing the burning of witches in the Middle Ages.
“From the Pyre” is an album that tells a story. It shapes a world in a certain style and timbre unique to the band. The album starts out with “Agnus Dei,” an allusion to Christianity meaning “Lamb of God.” This immediately leads listeners to the theme at the core of the album: sacrifice, death, violence in the world and the human struggle to come to terms with it.
“Rifle” is one of the standout songs of the album. A tad sonically different from what the Last Dinner Party usually does, the song questions the violence put forth by boys and men. They also incorporated French into the song with the phrase “C’est toi, mon fils, tu es la fin,” which means “It is you, my son, you are the end.”
The chorus of the song feels like a coven crying out, beautiful and sonorous. Abigail Morris, the band’s lead singer, has an eternally captivating voice and style, and this shines throughout the album. In the tone and layers of each song. Her voice and performance are reminiscent of greats like Kate Bush and Stevie Nicks.
The song “I Hold Your Anger” is similar to “Rifle” in that it speaks of the way the world is shaped. It speaks about how women are expected to carry the weight of other people’s emotions and history. Sung by Aurora Nishevci, the keyboardist of the group, the song continues the epic and expansive tone of the album.
There is always a song of comfort and care for another somewhere in all of The Last Dinner Party’s works. In its first album it was “On Your Side,” and for this album, it’s “The Scythe,” a song coming to grips with those dreadful realities of life, especially death.
The last song of the album, “Inferno” is the completion of the story where, like many women in history, the speaker is being burned alive. The song connects to Joan of Arc, as well as all the women who have been persecuted, judged and burned for it. This album as a whole felt like a love letter to all the women in the past, and to the lives of people in the present.
“From the Pyre” is more than an album, but an experience and a journey through a world so many have connected to in their time. For such a short time in the spotlight, The Last Dinner Party has continued to create its own sound that speaks to the human experience in a way not many can.
