“With a momentous magnitude and a siren sound it is no wonder The Last Dinner Party have reached such heights.”

Feminine rage, feminine love, the mercy it means to be a woman. Chew on us and we will be thankful for the touch, passive to it’s pain. We are expected to endure, our lives an eternal endeavour. Constrained by societal expectations, we are bound to maintain a facade of indifference, as if ‘Nothing Matters’. Yet, deep within our souls, the anger simmers, the fire of resilience burns, combating the persisting notion the prehistoric. This palpable sensation resonates profoundly in the latest offering from the musical ensemble The Last Dinner Party, aptly titled song ‘ My Lady of Mercy’.
Like a composition from the renaissance, the music brims with grandiosity and intricacies. Each note dances and weaves together, painting an evocative portrait of the multifaceted feminine experience. In its graceful melodies and elegantly crafted lyrics, we find solace and validation for the emotions that stir within us. Indeed, the duality of feminine existence is a truth woven intricately into the fabric of this masterpiece. It encapsulates the essence of our longing, our battles, and ultimately, our triumphs amidst a world that often seeks to diminish our power.

Made up of Aurora Nishevci, Georgia Davies, Lizzie Mayland ,Emily Roberts, and Abigail Morris, the girls met during Freshers’ week at university and started to host gigs in South London. This lead to their discovery after a video of them performing was uploaded and a cascade of record artists got in touch asking to represent them.
Inspired by the saints and martyrs of yesteryear, the women in paint on golden plaques held high, Anne Boleyn, Mother Mary, the woman with a broken toe and a distant gaze on the bus, your best friends mother and your co-workers sister. We are surrounded by a mosaic of muses. This is an unconventional love song, unfettered from expectations here love flows freely, you love these women for who they are not how they make you feel, to love is to toe the line between being selfless and selfish and this song is is a testament to this.
We have unbridled passion for people we have a bustling sense of self and we should be merciful with who we are and how we want to be . Mercy does not always mean to be soft it means to be powerful in your approach and compassionate in your delivery. An orchestral Boudoir, The Last Dinner Party execute their songs in an ethereal way that exude gothic romanticism, leaving you entranced, euphoric but also melancholic – a sense of wanting to be a part of it, this choir of rebellion, rage and authenticity.
Despite is soft, soothing start with an enticing build up this song becomes quite a merciless sound it’s ruthless guitar and propulsive dream a tempest on the stage. My Lady Of Mercy is a piercing piece of poetry. The power, the prowess the poignancy of the premise, the alluring twang of the guitar in the penultimate verse, this song is succulent like a ripened peach plucked from a tree but beautifully bitter like a cranberry. It is ethereal and energetic ,sacred and profound, it is the sound of someone regaining control of their own narrative.
With a momentous magnitude and a siren sound it is no wonder The Last Dinner Party have reached such heights. Despite only releasing their debut single, the hedonistic and harmonious “Nothing Matters” earlier this year in April the quintet have already had a major U.S Tour and with their debut studio album, a ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’ set to release January 2024, this storm is making the world their stage.
“‘My Lady of Mercy’ is about being a girl,” the band explained. “A girl looking up at a painting of Joan of Arc for the first time and thinking that she looks so brave and so beautiful that she wants to kiss her. And maybe she also wants to kiss the girl who stands next to her in the school choir.
For me, the song is about being brutal, showing the blood and the guts it takes to create a smiling face. It is a bit tears and laughter, choking on spit throwing fights just to get hit, its about feeling it all in order to feel alive. It is the rain and the thunder tearing your home asunder. It is about, getting hurt and hurting, healing and forgiving and doing it all wrong when you’re trying to do it right, Ultimately, it is a celebration of our shared humanity.
When I think of the Last Dinner party I think of Ophelia immortalised by John Stuart Mills, of Catherine The Great, Kristen Dunst as Marie Antoinette and the remarkable Mia goth in X. I imagine stories full of poisoned love letters, lipstick on tongues and smeared on fingertips, people wearing each others messes and mending them into masterpieces. Seeing the all female quintet live was like being invited to a party you never meet the host of, you leave fulfilled but later on discover a gaping ache burning in your insides, the longing to be a part of something as powerful as them, which is why we are all invited to their’ Last Dinner Party.
Tickets for their upcoming UK tour are available here.