The Last Dinner Party: “We’re trying to ignore the words ‘hype’ and ‘buzzy band’”

The Last Dinner Party have said they are “trying to ignore the words ‘hype’ and ‘buzzy band’” while reflecting on becoming the most talked-about rock group of the year.

The London outfit and NME 100 alumni are due to release their debut album ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’ on February 2 via Island (pre-order here). It’ll feature the 2023 singles ‘Nothing Matters’, ‘Sinner’, ‘My Lady Of Mercy’ and ‘On Your Side’.

• READ MORE: The Last Dinner Party: the newly-coronated monarchs of baroque-pop

Recently, The Last Dinner Party were nominated for the BRITs Rising Star award and they appear on the BBC Sound Of 2024 longlist, as well as BBC Radio 6 Music’s Artists Of The Year rundown. The band’s debut track ‘Nothing Matters’ has also come in at Number Five on NME‘s ’50 best songs of 2023’ list.

During a new interview for NME‘s ‘The Cover’, the five-piece opened up about how their current experiences and rise in music “can feel a bit like going in a car really fast and not being in charge of the steering wheel”.

Frontwoman Abigail Morris continued: “We’re trying to ignore the words ‘hype’ and ‘buzzy band’ and just focus on what grounds us: playing, writing and rehearsing our music.”

Georgia Davies (bass) said: “Jesus take the wheel [Laughs].” She explained that TLDP “took [their] sweet time releasing anything, which was somewhat intentional”, adding: “It was about the experience in its entirety, rather than instant recognition from singles.”

Later, the band touched upon the false presumptions that they are “industry plants”. “Do we have to address that?” Morris asked NME. Davies weighed in: “We take it as a compliment. If people think it’s too good to be true, then all we can say is thank you.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, the latter musician said The Last Dinner Party “knew [they] were different from other bands doing the post-punk thing”. Morris explained: “We imagined the kind of joyful, exciting act we’d want to see when we go out, and created our own ‘dream band’ from that.”

The group, who made their Glastonbury debut and embarked on their first North American tour this year, also spoke about the importance of honing their craft on the live scene before releasing music.

“Our friends and family actually came back after our first few shows, instead of making excuses not to return,” recalled lead guitarist Emily Roberts. “That’s when we knew we were good.”

Morris told NME: “From the beginning, before we even had one rehearsal, we decided that our visuals would be just as important as the music. We wanted the whole thing to be an entire spectacle.”

The Last Dinner Party will play a headline show at the Roundhouse in London on the eve of their debut album’s release (February 1). The group previously teased that the gig “could be historical”. You can find any remaining tickets here.

They’ll then head out for a series of UK record store dates before embarking on a European tour. Additionally, the band will make appearances at Primavera Sound in Barcelona and Porto, as well as Rock Werchter in Belgium, and TRNSMT in Scotland.

Meanwhile, The Last Dinner Party have curated an energetic playlist to accompany their conversation for NME‘s ‘The Cover’.