“Give me, the strength, give me, the strength, give me the strength.”
It might well be a mantra, a prayer for Lauren. At the end, in her last dance. Or Grace.
in a
Words don’t wrap themselves readily around ‘The Last Dinner Party,’ and certainly don’t easily explain the whole. Delicate choral melodies smash into moments of pop punk and glam rock. The magical fiction of words bring life to songs that sneak into the room wearing a wide brimmed hat, then kick off their long stemmed coat and dance in a spiralling carousel of petticoats across the table. Gorgeous. Unrestrained. Alive.
This is the ninth in ten great albums I discovered last year. ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’ began my year, and I was lucky enough to see ‘The Last Dinner Party’ twice in 2024. It is a beautiful thing to watch the evolution of a band over so short a time, from the Republic Stage at Leeds in 2023, to the main stage in 2024, finally owning the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester late last year.
I hope Abigail, Lizzie, Emily, Georgia and Aurora form part of my 2025 in some way. Lauren would have loved them. She would have wanted to be them. But dreams are the simplest of things to steal and the Red Marsh King stole hers, only to replace them with nightmare.
Listen and enjoy.
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ianhedley - Indie Horror / Dark Fantasy Writer 