If you’re into alternative music, there’s no way you haven’t heard of this indie powerhouse dominating the UK’s underground scene. After the release of only one single, The Last Dinner Party has garnered over 500,000 monthly Spotify listeners. In anticipation of their upcoming UK tour and the release of their second single, “Sinner,” we talked to the quintet about their name, aesthetic, and how The Last Dinner Party came to be where it is today.
Were you all at all startled by just how quickly you would rise to underground prominence after officially releasing your first single? What do you think that had to do with how much you had been killing it in the UK live scene?
The Last Dinner Party: “We were wishing and hoping ‘Nothing Matters’ would be received well but couldn’t anticipate the scale. It’s been overwhelming and amazing. We always hoped it would be the shows that drew people in, that’s partly why we started doing live shows before releasing anything online.”
Where did the name The Last Dinner Party come from?
The Last Dinner Party: “It was conceived during Abi and Georgia’s famous wine heavy night in Brixton. They wrote a whole manifesto, dripping with wine and blood, for this fantasy of a band they were going to start. The name is perfect because anyone can attend a dinner party. It’s welcoming and it embodies an ethos of mystery, decadence and maximalism.”
You all have such a unique aesthetic in your exploration of those Victorian, Baroque, and Renaissance themes. When did that start, and how important is it to the band’s identity moving forward?
The Last Dinner Party: “We’ve always naturally been drawn to those aesthetics as we find they capture the spirit of our music. There’s a playfulness and glamour that comes from dressing up like that and it empowers us on stage. Like many other musicians before us during the glam-rock and New Romantic eras, we like to interpret the silhouettes through a modern lens so that it doesn’t become pastiche.
However, as with our music, our look will naturally evolve as we explore new avenues and interests so it’ll be exciting to see where our aesthetic goes next.”
At every live show, what do you hope to gain with the audience?
The Last Dinner Party: “We want the shows to be a cathartic experience for the audience. We want you to feel like you’ve been apart of something, a shared experience. We hope it’s inspiring, that it inspires artists to create, musicians to play, and friends to start bands.”
What does The Last Dinner Party songwriting process look like?
The Last Dinner Party: “As a band it’s an ongoing experiment. With the five of us being capable writers there are so many ways of collaborating on new music. On this album, Abi wrote most of the songs on the piano and then the band added the beef to the sandwich.
Aurora and Lizzie made the ‘Sinner’ demo with each member contributing their parts, ‘Gjuha’ was written together in a practice room then Aurora went away and added the vocal line. It’s a mix of sharing songs, producing demos and jamming out in a practice room.”
What is your favorite live moment you've experienced thus far?
The Last Dinner Party: “The Camden Assembly gig right after the release of ‘Nothing Matters’ was euphoric. It was a massive joy to jump around with everyone singing along to ALL the words, we were ecstatic.”
What do you hope for The Last Dinner Party's future?
The Last Dinner Party: “We hope it keeps on the same trajectory. This band has been a dream come true. We get to make art and music, play gigs, travel with our friends, what more could you ask for? We are so incredibly grateful.”
ON THE RISE
Blossoms caught up with NME to discuss competing with The Beatles and Johnny Marr for this week’s Number One album. With ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ in the running, the band also explained why making things themselves remains such an important part of their work as AI becomes more common.
The Stockport group put out their sixth album last Friday, October 2. By the midweek update, it was sitting at Number Two, between The Beatles’ expanded edition of ‘Rubber Soul’ and Johnny Marr’s latest solo album, ‘The Age Of Everything’.
“It’s mad, to be honest,” singer Tom Ogden said to NME about the chart race. “Liverpool on one side, Manchester on the other and Stockport in the middle. If you’d told us this 10 years ago, when we were releasing our debut, I wouldn’t have believed you. But I mean, we’re in good company aren’t we?”
Discussing the stories behind the album, Ogden described ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ as “about being married and all the everyday stuff that comes with it”. He married Katie Donovan, the sister of Blossoms drummer Joe, in 2021. Married life has since given him a new appreciation for what he describes as “the extraordinary ordinary”.
“Saying the wrong thing in an argument, losing your wife’s no claims bonus, crying at the Kardashians, it’s all in there,” he explained. “The album is named after Stockport Town Hall, which everyone round where we live calls the Wedding Cake, and it’s where I got married, so it couldn’t be much closer to home.
“The last album [‘Gary’, 2024] had a song about a stolen fibreglass gorilla, which everyone loved, and that gave us the confidence to bring the same playfulness to this one, just with more personal subject matter this time.”
Alongside tracks that came out of writing sessions with Declan McKenna in a hot tub, the album reflects the band’s desire to stay involved in every part of the creative process.
“It started with the recording,” Ogden explained. “We made the album with Shawn Lee, playing live straight to tape, and once you’ve done it that way you can’t really go and fake everything else. We sat down as a band and picked the colour palette, and everything visual followed from that. We had body scans taken of ourselves and cake toppers of the five of us 3D printed, put them on a real cake and photographed it. I’ve directed and edited the videos, and the sets are all built by hand, no green screen. For the pop-up shop on launch weekend, a local artist hand-painted the album cover for the sign outside.
“It’s more work, but you end up with a world that’s yours, and I think people can tell when a band’s had its hands on everything.”
With AI tools and digital effects becoming increasingly widespread, that approach feels particularly relevant. For Blossoms, though, the motivation is simple: “the fun is in the making”.
“Tape doesn’t let you cheat and neither does a real cake,” Ogden said. “If a set’s a bit wonky, it’s because one of us or our mates built it. I think the more stuff gets generated, the more people want to know a human being actually did it. We’ve been in this band together for over 10 years, five lads from Stockport, and that isn’t something you can ‘prompt’.”
Maya Jama also appeared in the video for the album’s first single, ‘Meet Me In Love’. Her appearance came shortly before the UK launch of Celebrity Traitors, where she took on the role of a traitor alongside a cast that included Richard E Grant and James Acaster.
“She was brilliant,” Ogden recalled of working with Jama. “We’d met her at the MTV EMAs in Manchester a couple of years ago, so we took a chance and sent her a DM …and she said yes. Next thing she’s in a theatre in Cheadle miming my vocals while a load of people dressed as me serenade her. She got the idea straight away and was a proper laugh about it.”
The conversation then turned to whether he thought Jama could take home the win on Celebrity Traitors.
Ogden joked: “As for Traitors, she spent a whole day pretending to sing my song and I almost believed her, so I’d say she’s got every chance.”
Fans can listen to ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ now. In November, Blossoms head out on a UK arena tour with The Royston Club. Tickets and further details are available here.
Before the tour begins, the group is also scheduled to appear on SNL UK on Saturday, October 24.
