The Last Dinner Party have shared a new single called ‘The Scythe’ – you can listen to it below.
- READ MORE: The Last Dinner Party: the newly-coronated monarchs of baroque-pop
The emotional track is the second preview of the London band’s second studio album, ‘From The Pyre’, which is due for release on October 17 via Island. Pre-order/Pre-save here.
“This song began nine years ago, like a prophecy. I wrote it before I had known anything of grief or heartbreak, how a relationship ending feels exactly the same as that person dying,” explained frontwoman Abigail Morris.
“Once you know how it feels to lose someone, you enter a new realm from which you can never return. You’re trying to reach them telepathically through psychics or song lyrics (sometimes those two become the same), and sometimes they give you a reply.”
She continued: “It can take nine years to realise you’re even grieving at all but once you do, you see them everywhere – in a robin, in a street fox, in a Wim Wenders film. ‘The Scythe’ comes for everyone, and you shouldn’t be afraid about what’s on the other side.”
“It’ll take you too/ Take a long time/ Limbs’ll disconnect/ Like the phone lines,” sings Morris over haunting organ chords, before making way for a chugging electric guitar line. Later, she concedes that “nothing lasts” and “each life runs its course“.
“I’ll see you in the next one/ Next time I know you’ll call,” Morris adds in the driving chorus.
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‘The Scythe’ is accompanied by a black-and-white official music video, directed by Fiona Jane Burgess (Wolf Alice, Girl In Red).
The Last Dinner Party said the clip is “one of our proudest and most intimate”, adding: “From one angle it’s a celebration of all the relationships that make it so far, you both feel like you can live forever. From another, it’s the fantasy of imagining what it would look like if your parents had been able to grow old together.”
The band’s latest song follows on from their previous offering, ‘This Is The Killer Speaking’ – the lead single from ‘From The Pyre’.
“This record is a collection of stories, and the concept of album-as-mythos binds them,” TLDP explained in a previous statement. “‘The Pyre’ itself is an allegorical place in which these tales originate, a place of violence and destruction but also regeneration, passion and light.
“The songs are character-driven but still deeply personal, a commonplace life event pushed to pathological extreme. Being ghosted becomes a Western dance with a killer, and heartbreak laughs into the face of the apocalypse.”
‘From The Pyre’ serves as the follow-up to the BRIT Award-winning band‘s acclaimed 2024 debut album, ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’, which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. Their first LP also landed at Number 23 on NME‘s best albums of 2024 list.
Yesterday (September 4) saw The Last Dinner Party announce a huge run of headline tour dates in the UK, Europe and Australia. The trek includes two nights at London’s O2 Academy Brixton this December. See ticket details here.
“We’re bringing our travelling troupe of mythmakers to the world, with a brand new show full of chaos, catharsis and light!” the band wrote.
Earlier this year, TLDP’s Lizzie Mayland – also known as soloist L.Mayland – told NME about what fans could expect from the group’s new music. They explained that it was inspired by “darker themes” and “processing heavier emotions”.
“It’s a pretty dark time, so I think that is reflected in the music because we’re in touch with the world,” Mayland continued.
“It’s not all sad, though; there are some bops as well! It’s not all downbeat either – they’re fun, angry songs. I won’t go into too much detail, though; you’ll have to wait and see.”
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