Opening with a bombastic minute-and-a-half orchestral piece, Prelude to Ecstasy is deep and riveting. That opener is also the title track, making it very literal.
The Last Dinner Party is a band I hadn’t even heard of, but Spotify pushed it at me and it sounded intriguing. Prelude to Ecstasy released on February 2, the day that Ghetts’ album was supposed to drop (but it was pushed to the 23rd). So, why not?
The Last Dinner Party is an all-girl British Indie Rock five-piece with strong leanings into Orchestral, Art, and Baroque Rock with very Pop-focused vocals. Basically, if you gave Lana Del Rey a deep and talented backing band and ensured that the songs we consider her hits now are the new minimum in quality – you get The Last Dinner Party. I typically emerge from a Del Rey album with mixed feelings, but Prelude to Ecstasy really shows off the sheer potential of Baroque music when the composition has been thoroughly polished.
I should also note that Prelude to Ecstasy is The Last Dinner Party’s debut. And it seems to be highly-anticipated, given that the band has 4.6 million listeners on Spotify, detailed Wikipedia entries, and has already charted singles and won awards. Given that they only just formed in 2020 and didn’t even play their first live gig until November 2021, their rise is nothing short of meteoric; they’ve already toured in support of Hozier, for Chrissakes!
And all of it – the praise, the awards, the hype – is legitimate. This album grabbed me with the opening chords of “Burn Alive”, which would be right at home in any Doom Metal song,1 and it never let go. As the album moves from track to track, different elements and styles will swell to the fore, then fade to make room for something else. And it’s all incredibly fluid and seamless and cohesive. The compositions are deep and intricate and moving.
There’s a lot to love about this album. These songs will likely be on repeat for much of the year.
The only thing holding this back (slightly) for the moment is the question of thematic cohesion. I haven’t spotted anything yet. Probably because I’ve been too busy jamming.
Rating: Lavender
Now introducing…
Robin’s Corner
On select albums, I’ll be asking my wife to weigh in with her thoughts. Why not, right? Her taste varies a bit from mine, and it gives us another thing to interface over.
First, I do love their name. And I appreciate the way it gives you a preview for some of the themes and concepts they are playing with in their music. For the Prelude to Ectasy album specifically- my overall impression is a little meh. The lyricism is, for the most part, "A+" but be prepared to go find the lyrics as she blends her words together and has some odd enunciation moments. But some of the lines will make you shiver none-the-less.
For me, the main detractors are the low energy through-line with little to break it up (even the upbeat moments are not going to make you want to dance), the repetition - many of the choruses are just too simple and too repetitive for me (I was ready to skip the ending of more than one song), and the "choir" feel whenever they all start singing. Some of that I think has to do with the way their music has some of that "old timey" feel to it in parts.
Aside from the strong lyrics, the other thing I did notice and appreciate in their songs was they way the music moves in each — you have very clear sections separated by unique feelings as they move from section to section — I enjoy that in songs; it makes me feel like I am going on a journey with you.
Standouts, if you just want to sample some of the better parts, are “Burn Alive” and “The Feminine Urge”. I really wanted to like “Sinner” and “Nothing Matters”, but the repetitiveness got to me.
Overall, an okay listen, just make sure you are in a proper morose mood before trying to listen to the whole thing straight through. And maybe find something boppy to follow it up with as a palette cleanser.
Rating: Green
And this isn’t the only track boasting a thick, Doomy atmosphere, either; none of them ever reach the intensity of actual Metal, but the album ventures close to Doom Rock pretty reliably