by By the time The Last Dinner Party’s debut came out, they were sensations. They were the new stars, the talents of a whole bunch of allegations, and the talents at the centre of a storm; mixing obsession, critique and cynicism into a barrage of commentary.
The Skinny: The thing that got them through was vision. Even as they were facing up to the classically misogynistic doubt of their abilities, credibility or legitimacy, the band’s bold creative world became the fire that could burn through all of that. It’s hard to try and call a band phoney when they’re busy recreating Shakespeare plays for music videos, or releasing Sparks covers, rewriting pop songs into operas. None of the shit could stick – thank god, because the simple thing that first fuelled all the intrigue and then the outrage is the simple fact that The Last Dinner Party just have it, and they know how to do it well.
The fact that they’ve wasted no time in returning a second album is a perfect example of that. There’s the sense that From The Pyre was excitedly made as they ran forth into the future, while also processing their vastly and quickly changing lives. It sounds like a band wanting to make it clear who they are and where they’re going, amidst the noise, so keen to say it for them.
The result is a record strikingly creative and singularly theirs. The influences are there as they always were, noting their love for theatrical rock, witchy traditional folk and power ballads that have always been clear. But the way the band combines them feels like their own unique recipe. It’s tough to think of another act who would release a track as silly and stagey as ‘This Is The Killer Speaking’ as a lead single, but they will. Then they’ll follow it up with the stadium-sized ballad ‘The Scythe’, then they’ll go punk with ‘Second Best’. They want to do it all, they have the chops to do so, and mostly, they’re willing to and brave enough – so here, they have.
It’s exactly what makes this album so special. It feels even more dynamic than the last as they lean fully into fantasy, going fully cinematic or even folkloric, but then switching it up again and again, combining pure poetry with modern references to Real Housewives. Different members take turns up to bat as Abigail Morris hands the mic to Lizzie Mayland for the soaring ‘Rifle’, and then to Aurora Nishevci for the powerful ‘I Hold Your Anger’. On the album’s most staggering moment, they join their voices like a coven on ‘Woman Is A Tree’, creating a Wicker Man moment that commands goosebumps from the skin and keeps them there for the record of side B.
The Verdict: At every turn of this album, we’re provided examples as to why The Last Dinner Party are a special act. There are hits here, but across all ten songs, the only approach taken is their own. If they wanted to be, they could put out a basic indie pop record and become the best album in the world. But instead, they’ve fallen onto some golden land where it genuinely feels like the group will become the biggest in the world, all through staying as strikingly unique as this.
Defining track: ‘Woman Is A Tree’
Release date: October 17th, 2025 | Producer: Markus Dravs | Label: Island
