You'd be forgiven for being unaware of The Last Dinner Party, a British rock band founded in 2021 that has found success abroad, but not a lot of traction in the States.
They released their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy on February 2nd of this year, and I stumbled upon it thanks to Spotify's recommendations.
What I found was a sprawling tapestry of the human condition through a powerful baroque pop rock aesthetic, and I cannot stop going back to this album for another listen, generally front to back.
Ecstasy is a pendulum which swings between the extremes of human emotion, from the ecstasy of passion to the sublimity of pain, and it is this concept which binds our album together.
This is an archeology of ourselves; you can exhume our collective and individual experiences and influences from within its fabric. We exorcised guitars for their solos, laid bare confessions directly from diary pages, and summoned an orchestra to bring our vision to life.
Suffice to say, it's an adventure with a rock opera-esque theme of human emotion, led by pop and sometimes operatic vocals backed by a broad variety of symphonic and rock. They've developed a unique sound that pays homage to many great acts while continuing their own vision.
Following a short instrumental introduction, the album's first song, Burn Alive weaves a story of woman's passion and devotion in love and the feelings of that love being undeserved.
The album continues in Caesar on a TV Screen with a male perspective of inadequacy, but one that manifests in creating a self-image that exudes confidence and power
"I know that I can see myself as a man, when I put on that suit I don't have to stay mute, I can talk all the time 'cause my shoulders are wide"
The subject of the song continues to speak of the power gained from having a voice in the public:
"No one can tell me to stop, I'll have everything I want. Anyone and everyone will like me then. Everyone will love me."
The next song, The Feminine Urge, is direct response to the insecurity and toxic masculinity expored in Caesar, mocking the expectations many men (and much of society) placed upon women to be subservient.
"Oh, pull your boots up, boys and push me down I'm only here for your entertainment"
"Do you feel like a man when I can't talk back? Do you want me or do you want control? Failure to commit to the role, I admit was a failure you achieved on your own."
The last lines of the chorus are also the final lines of the song, which echo the sentiment expectations society has placed on women for generations:
"Here comes the feminine urge, I know it so well to nurture the wounds my mother held"
On Your Side continues the theme of the complications of love, standing almost in direct opposition to Feminine Urge.
The story here is confusing love in an abusive relationship, being unable or unwilling to give it up despite the constant pain.
"And I wish I didn't want you, wish I could do without this blood on my face where your teeth sunk in, bite me again."
"When it's 4AM and your heart is breaking, I will hold your hands, to stop them from shaking. If it takes all night, I will be on your side."
"When you're lying here, I believe you love me. You can hold my hair back when you kiss me. If you stay all night, I will be on your side"
In Beautiful Boy, the feelings described in the past tracks manifest into envy for that toxic masculinity which runs the world.
"And what I'm feeling isn't lust, it's envy. He has the Earth, makes love to her to spite me"
"The power in my hips is useless in the dark. What good are red lips when you're faced with something sharp?"
This leads directly to longing for that privileged place in the world, which is echoed by haunting vocals through the remainder of the song.
"I wish I could be a beautiful boy... Beautiful boy... Beautiful boy..."
Gjuha is sung entirely in Albanian with almost religious sounding vocals telling the story of not knowing/abandoning one's familial background and heritage.
Gjuha leads directly into the power pop ballad, Sinner, reflecting on a love that was considered a sin, and wishing to return to a time before being cursed with this knowledge and wishing to be cleansed of these feelings of being a sinner.
(This is one of my favorite tracks on the album)
My Lady of Mercy continues the "sinful" relationship described in Sinner, describing the feelings of devoted love and lust rife with religious imagery, another musical standout that is best heard back to back with Sinner.
Portrait of a Dead Girl is an anaylsis of a break up, a post mortem not unlike one you might have in the shower or on a car ride, as you gather your thoughts and develop the words you wish you knew to say in the moment.
Throughout the song we hear our protagonist evolve their point of view on the break up,
"And I wish you had given me the courtesy of ripping out my throat, and I wish that I'd let you have the dignity of letting me go"
"And I wish you had given me the courtesy of staying one more night, and I wish that I had the guts, the dignity to put up a fight"
At the end of the song, as our protagonist gains confidence in their own agency, we hear a refrain that starts in the background but grows to take over the song
"Give me the strength, give me the strength"
Nothing Matters brings to a head the desires of love expressed in the album in our protagonist's relationships, accepting that there is nothing more here than banal intimacy.
"I dig my fingers in expecting more than just the skin"
"I put my heart inside your palms, my home in your arms, now we know nothing matters, nothing matters"
"And I will fuck you like nothing matters"
That last line repeats with a pop chorus, just nihilistically accepting that nothing in our protagonist's relationship, and perhaps life, is beyond skin deep.
The album concludes with Mirror, about the spiral of depression and alcoholism that leads to darkness.
Our protagonist describes this fall into inadequacy and fear.
"And lately I've been thinking, what if I keep sinking? If I drown will they make me a star? When you drown do they know who you are?"
"I'm just a mirror, pretty glass, an empty heart. I'm just a mirror, I don't exist without your gaze"
This lack of self worth is echoed in the final lines of the album
"I fade away, I fade away"
Conclusion
The haunting melodies and complicated themes of inadequacy, fear, and love stick with me throughout relistening to this work of art.
The album's title, Prelude to Ecstasy, explains it all: these deep, complicated emotions and expressions are the pain many endure on the quest to find happiness, ecstasy, in our short lives.
I hope you check it out.
I'm not much of an music analyzer, so I am almost certain I completely misunderstood the album. Please let me know in the comments how wrong I got it.
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