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We remember it perfectly. In the spring of 2023, a young English group released their first title, “Nothing Matters”. They are called The Last Dinner Party, and have a precise look, somewhere between Victorian England and Sofia Coppola's “Marie Antoinette”. The literary and cinematographic influences are undeniable in their music video and music. There's a bit of Kate Bush, Oscar Wilde, “Jane Eyre”, glam-rock… The lyrics are explosive and sung with a unifying rhythm: “And I'Il fuck you like nothing matters”.

Abigail Morris, Georgia Davies, Emily Roberts, Lizzie Mayland and Aurora Nishevci are in their late twenties, are above all friends and are not there to be discreet with a theatrical, dramatic, baroque, even rococo, and solidly rock style. When we speak with bassist Georgia Davies, via Zoom, ten days before the release of their first album, the name of the group is already on the lips of all fans of british rock. The Anglo-Saxon press is unanimous after only three singles, and they will leave in March for a tour of the United States, the Holy Grail.

From her room and although she continues interviews, the 24-year-old musician is jovial and immediately explains that The Last Dinner Party is a group, certainly, but thought beyond a musical project: “There is a whole universe: cinema, literature, poetry, art in general.” The bassist insists on the importance of the visual, of the clips, designed like small films, where they supervise the artistic direction. In the latest, “Caesar on a TV Screen”, the musicians appear disguised as men, the singer Abigail being Julius Caesar. Explanations that couldn't be clearer: “In Shakespeare's time, on stage, women were represented by men wearing dresses, wigs… We wanted to do the opposite, women playing men, figures very masculine war. We like to dress up and act out this type of drama.”

A meeting on the university benches

The meeting of the five young women was born of a “coincidence”, believes Georgia. The Australian came to settle with her family in England – a personal dream that she would have in any case made come true alone – then joined the prestigious King's College university in London to study British literature. Their first discussion? On the day of their installation in the “ accommodation» adjacent to the university. They already have things in common, most of them are musicians, and they all love music. Georgia Davies played the piano since childhood, but adolescence and a love of rock pushed her to pick up her first bass, without dreaming of becoming a professional musician.

It even took a little time before the five friends even considered forming a group. They first toured the small concert halls of the capital and discovered local groups. “We weren't necessarily going to see a particular artist, but to listen to music. Sometimes five groups played in a single evening, for cheap. There is so much good music in the small venues of London…”, sums up the artist.

It was also Georgia who found the name of the group during a session specially dedicated to the thing taking place in a pub (obviously!). “We wanted to be this sort of maximalist decadent banquet, were inspired by authors like Oscar Wilde, the Victorian dandies, but also David Bowie. The idea was for all these people to come together around a big, fantastic dinner. Hence the idea of ​​a “dinner party”. But “The Dinner Party” being already taken, we added the “last” which had a very biblical side like the “last supper”[la Cène, en traduction française, N.D.L.R.]”.

While their first album, “Prelude to Ectasy” is released this February 2 by Universal, no doubt remains: the hype of past months will be confirmed and will make the quintet the English sensation of the year 2024. Many are already saying that the music of Last Dinner Party is too produced, too perfect, too calculated. But listening to the twelve tracks of this first album, the observation is undeniable: everything works, comes together with harmony and variations. No coincidence either, since the album is produced by James Ford, British rock star, faithful collaborator of Arctic Monkeys, having also worked with Foals, Gorillaz, and, more recently, Depeche Mode.

“Prelude to Ecstasy” opens with a 100% orchestral prelude, a daring, very cinematic choice, brilliantly thought out to better capture us from the second hypnotic track “Burn Alive”. The forty minutes go by almost without a false note. The record seems designed to become a classic. It is also the texts that we must pay attention to: dramatic (“Portrait of a Dead Girl”), modern and anchored in their time (“The Feminine Urge”). We could bet that “Nothing to Matters” will become a classic, and we can easily imagine it being chanted in a huge concert hall. Explicit lyrics, evoking sex, are clearly assumed, Georgia supports: “Historically speaking, women have never really been able to talk openly about sex. Being able to do it like this is important. It's a way of telling younger women that they don't have to be embarrassed. »

Spotted by the Rolling Stones and Florence and the Machine

Everything happened very quickly for the Last Dinner Party, who gave their very first concert in the fall of 2021. It only took a few weeks – and no songs shared online – for the Rolling Stones to call on them to open their concert in Hyde Park, in July 2022. “They were looking for a local band. It's crazy, we've never played on such a big stage since. When we look at the photos, we are all gathered in the middle, we didn't know how to position ourselves(laughs)», Georgia remembers. Nick Cave, then Florence and the Machine do the same. After small stages at British festivals, they have their first appearance at Glastonbury in June 2023.

The challenge of the stage has always been important to them, confirms the bassist: “Young artists record things, then play them live. Playing in London in a small venue with twenty people who didn't care was the right decision to allow us to become live musicians. You have to gain the attention of these people, the number of people will only increase after that.” It's true. Just see them live, wearing big white dresses or 19-style corsets^e century, like heroines at the crossroads of eras, never to take their eyes off them, starting with singer Abigail Morris, who confirms her strong charisma from the first moments of the set.

The next few months are already looking like a whirlwind, but the pressure doesn't seem to be making them waver. The key is to communicate with each other, says Georgia Davies, who judges that “there are no egos in the group”. The English will be in Paris for an already sold-out Leather Goods Show in February, then will return to the Rock en Seine festival in August. We can only recommend that you judge the phenomenon for yourselves.

“Prelude to Ecstasy” from The Last Dinner Party. Universal Music. Available February 2. In concert at Maroquinerie de Paris on February 20 and at Rock en Seine on August 22.