Former Cover stars The Last Dinner Party have spoken to NME at the 2024 Mercury Prize, and recalled how they managed to build a “sense of community” with their fans.
The London band released their acclaimed debut record, ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’ back in February. It subsequently became the biggest UK Number One debut album in nine years, and named by NME as one of the 10 best debut albums of 2024 so far.
It was also shortlisted for this year’s Mercury Prize, alongside albums from Charli XCX, CMAT, Ghetts, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more. However, it was Leeds band and former NME Cover stars English Teacher who achieved victory at the Abbey Road ceremony, and became the first non-London winner of the award in a decade.
While on the red carpet for the event last night (September 5), bassist Georgia Davies and guitarist Emily Roberts caught up with NME, and explained what it was like to see their first record resonate with fans on such a vast scale.
“We didn’t expect anything like that to happen, to be honest,” Davies said, adding that it is only just beginning to sink in. “Day to day sometimes we’ll be like ‘OK, this is our job’ and we’ll just get on with it. But every now and then, there comes an occasion like this and we get to take a step back and be like ‘Holy shit, we did it. We made a good album!’”
Emily Roberts and Georgia Davies of The Last Dinner Party attend the Mercury Music Awards 2024. CREDIT: JMEnternational/Getty Images
Looking back at their impressive list of accolades – which have so far included a BRIT Rising Star Award, slots at Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds, and an upcoming film – the members went on to explain why it is the fan response that will always mean the most to them.
“A lot of people seem to connect with the themes of the album,” Davies said when asked what they’re most proud of. “There are kids who were ostracised in school for their sexuality or the way that they presented [themselves] with their appearance or the music they were into. They now feel like they’ve found a sense of community in us.”
“That’s always a very beautiful and very moving thing to experience when people tell you [that],” she added. “It’s very emotional.”
Later in the interview, the band also shared details on their upcoming projects in the works. These included their upcoming album of acoustic tracks and covers – which includes their spirited cover of Sparks’ ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us’ – as well as work on new material.
“It’s got a lot of the covers that we’ve been doing on the road and on tour. It’s also got some acoustic versions that we’ve reinvented,” Davies explained of the former, while Roberts insisted that the latter “will be the next big milestone” for the band.
The comments about the follow-up to ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’ come after the band spoke to NME earlier this summer, and discussed what it was like to begin writing new music after an extensive run of live shows and festival appearances.
“There is a pressure going into the second album I guess, but I don’t think we’re so focused on that. We’re more excited because the first album for us was ages ago,” keyboardist Aurora Nishevci said.
The Last Dinner Party. Credit: Phoebe Fox for NME
“We recorded it ages ago, like, a year before we actually released it. We’ve been so nonstop busy playing shows and everything since then so it’s exciting to be home and writing because that’s what we’ve been doing since we were kids. We’ve been creative little weirdos so it’s nice to get back to that space. It’s exciting.”
As for how fans can expect new material to sound, Nishevci said: “We’ve not set out a concept for it, but we know we want to shift away aesthetically from album one, in terms of how we dress and the whole world. It’s still connected, but moving on to something a bit different.”
In a four-star review of their critically acclaimed first album, NME shared: “Some may choose to posit the band’s success as an antidote to the intense scrutiny – about their rise, appearance and decision to make music without a ‘serious’ intention – they’ve received in their early career. But take all of that away, and you’re still left with fantastic songs that are easy to embrace and return to. It’s hard to miss all the things they’re doing right.”
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