The Last Dinner Party get dark on third single ‘My Lady of Mercy’
The Londoners broaden their bold, maximalist sound to explore the anguish of a teenage crush.
Photo: Cal McIntyre
“This is a song about going to Catholic school,” announced The Last Dinner Party’s Abigail Morris before performing their freshly released single My Lady of Mercy at Glasgow’s SWG3 on Monday night. Already, the dressed-up crowd had a familiarity with the track. Loud whoops and cheers echoing round the room despite the song only having been released three hours earlier.
Serving as a stark contrast to their two previous singles Nothing Matters and Sinner, My Lady of Mercy sees the band lean into a darker, heavier sound – influenced by the likes of Nine Inch Nails, PJ Harvey and Roxy Music. This almost gothic track has a much more carnal feel, which allows it to stand out amongst their current discography like a sweaty sinner in church.
But it’s not as if the London-based band are doing a complete stylistic U-turn, instead they are simply broadening their already masterful sound to showcase their versatility as a band.
Their sound remains bold, maximalist and brimming with theatrics on My Lady of Mercy as they embrace a darker, more formidable sonic power so as to capture the anguish of a teenage crush that they say, ‘can only be described through the bloody, carnal language of religious experience’.
Meanwhile, the disparity between the funky verses and choral-like chorus wonderfully reflects the two overwhelming emotions of a teenage crush, and enables the song to reach delightfully emotive heights before ending in a very different place to where it began.
TLDP’s ability to combine this harsher sound with softer funk bass rhythms and ringing guitar chords without making it too jarring is really a testament to their skill as songwriters. And so they continue to impress and amaze with their music, making it look like there’s really nothing they can’t do.