NME’s flagship franchise The Cover turns one this month! Join us in celebrating our cover series and the emerging talent it spotlights by going behind the scenes of select Cover stories – here, London baroque-pop band The Last Dinner Party.
Few new bands have created such an instant buzz around them as The Last Dinner Party did when they introduced themselves to the world in April 2023. After honing their collective identity on small stages across London, they arrived with their debut single ‘Nothing Matters’ – an arresting piece of blunt and direct baroque-pop that put a darker spin on serenades to all-consuming love. With their singles since and, now, with their debut album ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’, the five-piece bring their ostentatious world to life in vivid form. “It is truly a remarkable record,” says Sam Flynn, Island Records’ senior marketing manager.
The world that The Last Dinner Party have been building around themselves was transported to a photography studio in London in late 2023 as they prepared to make their debut appearance on NME’s The Cover. “The shoot really captured the aesthetic world [they’ve] created,” Flynn explains. “The band came [to the studio] with a real sense of who they are and what they want to convey – [which is] bringing the theatre, spectacle and fun back into guitar music.”
As the band’s star continues to rise – with victories in the BRITs Rising Star category and the BBC’s annual Sound Of… poll – featuring on The Cover reinforces the impact The Last Dinner Party have made so far. “NME has always been a champion of new music and backed some of the world’s greatest artists, so being on the cover is an amazing achievement,” Flynn says.
The Interview
Interviewing The Last Dinner Party reminded journalist Cordelia Lam of hanging out with “a uni friend group at the pub”, with in-jokes, memes and comedy bits lighting up the conversation from the get-go. Beneath the larks, though, she found a band dedicated to their craft. “You could tell from how passionately they spoke that they care deeply about their music, artistry and honouring what they are trying to do with The Last Dinner Party,” she says.
Since releasing their debut single ‘Nothing Matters’ last year, The Last Dinner Party have become one of the most-talked-about new bands in the UK. Lam credits that not just to the “irreverent and unique” nature of their music but also the sensibility that runs through their songs and styling. “It’s this dedication to detail and an indulgence in the fanciful,” she explains. “You can hear it in the drama and baroque influences in their music and see it in their opulent, highly stylised visuals.”
The Photos
For Phoebe Fox, shooting The Last Dinner Party was “a dream”. After witnessing them at The Great Escape in 2023, the photographer knew they were great performers but notes that energy doesn’t always translate to a photoshoot with a whole team of people watching. “But their stage presence totally carried into the studio, and they didn’t really need my direction at all,” she says.
Instead of trying to match the band’s theatrical styling with the set design, Fox decided to go the other way and strip things back. “Why take away from [their look]?” she reasons. “Instead, we made [highlighting] their strength of character and individuality the goal by focusing on the wardrobe and persona.”
The Last Dinner Party’s baroque aesthetic inspired the way the photographer shot some of the images, with her shooting a roll of Portra 120 film to “replicate tones of famous love stories and period dramas”. The choice led to one of Fox’s favourite shots from the day – a strong portrait with distortion fizzing around the edges.
The Art Direction
“We wanted to create something that let the band’s energy speak for itself,” NME art director Simon Freeborough says of the intention behind this shoot.
In the design stages, Freeborough used the group’s aesthetic to fuel ideas for his artwork. “I ended up hand-drawing the title really small with a soft pencil, adding flourishes to give it an elegant, baroque touch and mimic their poses,” he explains.
The final shot selected for the cover, meanwhile, allowed Freeborough to bring everything together through what he calls a “perfect balance” of poses from the band and the white space around them. “I loved how Abigail’s hand mimics the point of the ‘M’ in NME,” he adds.
A version of this story appeared in NME Magazine’s January/February 2024 issue, which featured The Last Dinner Party on the cover
