The Last Dinner Party "From The Pyre" Album Review
- Magda Kanecka
- Nov 10, 2025
- 5 min read
Magda Kanecka | November 2025
After the remarkable success of their debut album, “Prelude to Ecstasy,” which earned the band the Brit Award for Best New Artist in March 2025, The Last Dinner Party have returned with their sophomore album, “From The Pyre.”
“From The Pyre” was produced by Markus Dravs, who previously worked with artists such as Coldplay, Björk, Kings of Leon and Hozier. It is interesting to see the similarities – but more notably the differences – in the artists’ works.
The band released three singles to promote the new album “This is the Killer Speaking,” “The Scythe,” and “Second Best,” all of which demonstrate different genres explored throughout the album.
The first single has a sinister beginning, leading into a steady, drum-filled structure throughout the rest of the track. The lyrics are emotional and reflect the ominous background production well, though out of all of the tracks on “From The Pyre,” I found myself returning to “This is the Killer Speaking” the least.
“The Scythe,” released at the end of summer this year, is undeniably my favourite track from the album. It feels nostalgic in both melody and lyrics, and I am a big fan of the build-up from the bridge to the final chorus.
Finally, “Second Best” showcases country undertones in the chorus and harmonies in the verses, accompanied by great guitar riffs. “Second Best” is devotion, and the official lyric video depicts the band’s members dressed in symbols of a knight, introducing a royal theme.
This is a notion the band has explored in their previous record, “Prelude to Ecstasy,” within the music video of their most famous release, “Nothing Matters,” featuring a scene with a royal dinner.
The opening track, “Agnus Dei,” meaning Lamb of God in Latin, traditionally holds a significant meaning in Christian liturgies. Yet, in its lyricism, the track discusses themes of giving yourself up for another person, and includes sinister imagery such as the lyric “The pigeons were witches / They whispered that you’ll be mine / For a time.”
Before the last line of each verse, there is a remarkable pause to highlight its emotional validity and significance. I am a big fan of the chorus and especially the lead singer Abigail Morris’s vocals throughout this track. “Agnus Dei” marks a sufficient opener for the rest of the album, and the leading chorus line “Oh here comes the apocalypse / And I can’t get enough of it,” has stood out to me ever since.
The Last Dinner Party have explored religious imagery within their previous record, especially with the tracks “My Lady of Mercy” and “Sinner,” which elaborate on how being a member of the LGBTQ+ community is often associated with a betrayal of God and traditional family life.
The band itself has strong connections to the community, with the non-binary-identifying guitarist Lizzie Maryland becoming a role model for others with a similar identity, and other members of the band openly speaking about navigating their own identities.
“Count The Ways” opens with some of bassist Georgia Davies’s most notable work on the album. The drums from Casper Miles are consistent throughout the song and add to the emotion in vocalist Abigail Morris’s voice, which is then fulfilled around the bridge of the song, as she is joined by the accompanying vocal harmonies from the rest of the band members – evidently drawing the listener to the religious imagery referenced throughout, as if referencing a church choir.
“Count The Ways” reminds me of the band’s quintessential sound that they established within their previous album, “Prelude to Ecstasy.” Additionally, I think this song would work well as a mid-point in a concert setlist.
When I first listened to the track “Rifle,” I wasn’t sure what I thought of it. It is only upon re-visiting the album that this track stood out to me for its unique, slowed-down vocals and careful synths in the background, which build up and repeat when Abigail Morris sings the line “Palms and fingertips are stained all red / Red, red / Red, red,” as if haunting the listener with the imagery.
As per the title, as well as the discussed lyrics, the track is spooky and violent, as if showcasing an execution or a possible death. The bridge, sung in French, is filled with octosyllables (line of verse with eight syllables), a language tool commonly understood to be the most melodic verses in poetry. This took me by surprise the most, and is what led me to re-visit the song. It is a chilling mid-point in the album tracklist, and shows The Last Dinner Party to be experimenting with their sound.
Track six, “Woman is a Tree,” once again starts with spine-chilling harmonies that build up rapidly, then drop, and suddenly then pick up again. The metaphor in the title reflects reaching out from the ground, almost as if describing the natural process of a tree growing, and applying it to lived experience. I feel like this song especially could easily feature in a Science Fiction movie soundtrack. Like the tree mentioned in the title and within the lyrics, this track, too, grows as it progresses.
“I Hold Your Anger” marks another one of my personal favourites on “From the Pyre.” It is powerful, emotional, with a great and gradual build-up – a switch up from some of the previous songs. I adore the references it makes to the fulfilling yet difficult experience of motherhood in the lyrics “Cause I’m a woman / And I’m a mother / Oh I’m a ship inside a bottle / ‘Till the levee breaks,” and I am a big fan of the switch up in lead vocals on this track from Abigail Morris to keyboardist Aurora Nischevki. There is a strong connection between their 2024 track “The Feminine Urge” as they both describe themes of motherhood, femininity and the rage that comes from the pain carried on by generations.
Track seven, “Sail Away,” is an emotional ballad with keys and emotionally charged vocals. It makes it clear that the album is coming to an end – it is nostalgic, almost melancholic in vocals. Lyrically, it is one of the most vulnerable on the release, with the narrator reflecting on past experiences, such as perhaps those of childhood memories, and creating an escape from the negative experiences within it.
This leads into the closing track, “Inferno,” which closes the album off on a harmonic note. It maintains previous religious imagery – a theme reoccurring throughout the tracklist – and uses this as a means of salvation from identity loss and confusion. Abigail Morris sings “I’ve never seen myself / And I hope I never know / I’m nothing but a shell / Nothing but dust in an inferno” in an optimistic way, as if disguising her struggles under a happy melody.
What I have always loved about The Last Dinner Party’s music is their ability to express raw emotion and vulnerability in their work – something I believe is crucial to both songwriting and performance. In their second studio album, The Last Dinner Party does not disappoint, though the album admittedly has interlude tracks that caught my attention less than others.
The band has clearly established their unique identifying sound and their influence within the industry as queer and LGBTQ+ icons, and it is evident that they are not afraid to touch on difficult topics. “From The Pyre” is an excellent example of this.
Listen to "From The Pyre" here!
