The Last Dinner Party caught up with NME at Lollapalooza to tell us about their Mercury Prize nomination, progress on their next album and plans for Reading & Leeds 2024
The band’s Aurora Nishevci and Lizzie Mayland spoke to us ahead of their performance on the Tito’s stage at the annual Chicagoan music bash, just a week after their debut album ‘Prelude To Ecstacy‘ was announced as one of the 12 LPs up for this year’s Mercury.
In a four-star review of the critically-acclaimed 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.”
“We’re very humbled to be nominated for the Mercury Prize,” Nishevci told NME. “We did not expect it at all. It’s a stellar line-up, got a bit of [Charli XCX‘s] ‘Brat‘ in there, English Teacher; it’s phenomenal. It’s such a prestigious award.”
After learning that the recipient of the award also wins a cash prize of £25,000, the two members told us about what they would do with the money. “Go on holiday. Maybe reinvest in the music industry,” Mayland shared, with Nishevci adding: “Synths, some synths!”
“Some charities is kind of what I was thinking but synths! Buy a massive synth for Aurora to play on stage,” Mayland added.
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The duo also shared their thoughts on the cancellation of the Prize’s usual live performance element at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, with Nishevci saying: “It’s kind of sad that there’s not a live show for the Mercury’s. Is it a show of the state of the music industry in England? It’s kind of like, a bit depressing.”
Nishevci added: “Awards are great for actually meeting other artists and seeing them perform because you don’t when you’re on tour, you very rarely cross paths. Those places are important just to create a community, like get to know everyone and feel like you’re a part of something.”
Check out our full interview below, where the band also told us what is in store for their second album, and their upcoming performance at this year’s edition of Reading & Leeds.
NME: Hi Aurora and Lizzie From The Last Dinner Party. How does it feel to be one of the hottest acts around compared to the early days of the band?
Lizzie Mayland: “We never expected it to be this successful. Our aim when we set out was to be a really good live band, and then recorded the album trying to capture the energy of the live shows and I think we did that, and I think that’s what people are responding to.
“It’s just so cool to be able to do this for a living and come to Chicago, come to Lollapalooza. We’ve just been to Japan. It has open so many doors I never thought were even within reach. It’s very difficult to wrap your head around, to be honest, quite surreal.”
You scored the biggest first week album sales for nearly a decade with ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’. Are you guys feeling any pressure while creating your second album?
Aurora Nishevci: “Nah. I mean, 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. 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.”
What has the songwriting process been like? Is there anything that is inspiring the world-building process for the album?
Nishevci: “We’ve started writing songs for album two. So we’re starting to get ideas. 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”
Mayland: “Something new. Also, we all went shopping a lot in Japan and I feel like that’s really changed the aesthetic.”
Nishevci: “It’s cemented a whole new thing for us”
Mayland: “It’s steampunk, baby! Let’s go!”
You guys are set to play Reading & Leeds later this month. How are you guys feeling about performing at such an iconic festival?
Mayland: “We’re playing the main stage, so I’m very excited for that. Also, I’m from Yorkshire near Leeds, so it’s always special for me to play in Yorkshire, that’s always a nice feeling.
“It’s definitely a younger crowd. Last time we were there, there were a lot of lads in bucket hats, which we love. Hopefully they’ll come and bring the moshpit energy, because we’ve not had too much of that in the States. People don’t mosh here as much. People dance, but they don’t mosh. So I’m excited for a bit of chaos, hopefully.”
Any memories from attending Reading & Leeds that stick out to you?
Nishevci: “At Reading, I discovered London Grammar when I was young. I went to Reading Festival, and it was kind of one of those moments when you just walk around, and that’s what I love about festivals when you walk around and you’re like, ‘That sounds good’, pop in. Then you’re like, ‘Whoa, my new favourite band,’ and that was London Grammar. Yeah, special.”
The Last Dinner Party are set to embark on a European headline tour this autumn. Visit here for tickets and more information.
Reading & Leeds will return for the August Bank Holiday weekend. Tickets are on sale now for both locations, and are available for purchase here (for Reading) and here (for Leeds).