Armed with lances and shields, The Last Dinner Party are jousting to the death. The British band’s five members spar, then dance around what looks like a pale marble Roman amphitheater, pompously plucking grapes from golden diningware. A musical break between hook and chorus, the band members slaughter lead singer Abigail Morris in a reenactment of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

The band—consisting of Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies, and Aurora Nishevci—refuses to be relegated to a linear timeline, drawing from bygone centuries to create cutting edge music for the youth of today. “And I will fuck you / Like nothing matters,” Morris unapologetically belts in their 2023 hit single “Nothing Matters.” The music video clips for the song oscillate between the band feasting in corsets during a candlelit dinner to the fivesome sprinting up a fog-engulfed hill in Edwardian dresses like a scene straight out of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). Even during live performances, The Last Dinner Party can’t help but leave behind a trail of extravagance, often donning billowing gowns in front of silk curtains or glass chandeliers.

But the visuals are only half of the equation; by teleporting between eras of power and lavishness, The Last Dinner Party sonically rewrites decadent histories past to fit modern-day narratives of love, self-empowerment, and sexuality. After forming in 2021, the band rose to prominence with a viral 2022 live performance video of “Nothing Matters” filmed at The Windmill in Brixton. The raw, unfiltered energy captured on camera, combined with their penchant for theatricality, immediately cemented The Last Dinner Party as an electrifying new force in the music scene, and they rapidly amassed a devoted following online and off.

Which brings us to today. For Document’s Fall/Winter 2024–25 issue, the band wears the inaugural collection by Alexander McQueen’s creative director Seán McGirr in an exclusive print-original feature shot by Mel Bles and styled by Karen Binns. Document also sat down with the band for a far-ranging interview to discuss their whirlwind rise, decadent aesthetic, and how they’ve carved a uniquely baroque subgenre within pop music for a new generation.

Left: Lizzie wears suit and shoes by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Aurora wears dress and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Abigail wears jacket, boots, and bag by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Right: Abigail wears jacket, boots, and bag by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Georgia wears dress and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Emily wears jacket, boots, and belt by McQueen by Seán McGirr.

Sofi Cisneros: For readers unfamiliar with your origin story, how and when did the band come to be?

Georgia Davies: I would say we came to be a band in 2020, but the songs had existed many years prior to that and Abby was writing and performing them on her own. Then the band materialized in 2020 but then, obviously, with lockdowns and stuff, we couldn’t rehearse. We would begin to conceptualize it, name it, start to rehearse, and then we would get locked down again. There was this really frustrating back and forth of rehearsal, but then our first ever gig was in November of 2021, so we’ve been going a good while now, 197 shows.

Sofi: I heard that Abby, Georgia, Lizzie, you guys met at King’s College, and then Emily and Aurora met at Guild Hall. What drew both groups together?

Aurora Nishevci: I got sent some demos, and I was like, This is sick. The demos are what drew me into the band, and then I got to know everyone in the rehearsal space, and started building on the specific world of the sound.

Georgia: I suppose me and Lizzie and Abby were drawn together because we were friends first. We all lived together, really close to university. What we had in common was what made us friends, and then it turns out that’s also good for being in a band. [Laughs]

Sofi: You guys have had a slew of journalists and critics calling your music raw, visceral, wild, romantic, even theatrical, but one consistent term that has been used to typify your music is baroque pop. Would you say there’s a defining element to your sound?

Emily Roberts: It’s the combination of pop or rock with classical influences. But then at the same time, I think we see each song as individual—and how do you make that individual song the best it can be? A lot of the songs have different vibes or genres. Like ‘My Lady of Mercy’ is kind of like Nine Inch Nails. Each song is quite different.

Aurora: It’s more about the attitude in pop than the actual sonic world. That makes sense to fit us into, because pop is so big and fun, and tongue in cheek. I guess that’s why we did the orchestral parallel; it’s so bombastic and almost ridiculous. But all the while we’re trying not to take ourselves too seriously and incorporate fun simultaneously with very deep lyric writing and intricate melodies.

“I think people can fall into the trap of doing—especially online, with having to identify yourself with a really niche subculture. We don’t want to be a part of that.”

Left: Aurora wears coat by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Right: Emily wears top, skirt, and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr.

Sofi: Your aesthetic and influences are just as striking visually as they are sonically. How much thought and intention is behind curating your signature aesthetic to align with the music or respective performance?

Abigail Morris: It’s funny, because from the beginning, we knew that the aesthetic world was going to be as important as the sonic world. We really liked the idea of being a band that was interesting to look at as well as listen to. And obviously those two facets need to be cohesive. I do think we’re all quite against that need to have this really intense aesthetic branding which I think people can fall into the trap of doing—especially online, with having to identify yourself with a really niche subculture. We see that in the terrifyingly rapid escalation of trend cycles. We don’t want to be a part of that. We just like having fun and borrowing from different genres and not being like, Oh, the TLDP aesthetic has to be this thing forever. It’s just letting yourself try different avenues and see what feels good.

Sofi: Georgia and Abby, both of you studied English literature. Would you say that also provides some references that you guys can pull for both the aesthetic and songwriting process? There’s a lot of 19th-century references in your sound.

Georgia: Yeah! Literature has definitely informed the sound, particularly when we were first conceptualizing the band and what we wanted it to stand for. I think there are some ideologies that we were studying in English around aestheticism and decadence, particularly of the late 19th century. There was such a commitment to excess and hedonism and celebration and pleasure and all of those things. And coming out of COVID times, people wanted a commitment to feeling good and unrestrained. I found those concepts from that period of literature very motivating and inspiring, and wanted to pursue them in what felt like a dark time.

Left: Lizzie wears jacket by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Right: Abigail wears coat by McQueen by Seán McGirr.

Sofi: Now that you say that, I really feel that element of breaking through the dark times when listening to your music. Do you think that the pandemic and lockdown led to this explosive, decadent sound? Or is it a more inherent theme within your sound that emerged really due to those circumstances?

Lizzie: Being post-lockdown definitely helped with people responding to it. I don’t know if the sound kind of came out of that moment though; we probably would have done that anyway. But the way people were ready to embrace that kind of ethos of excess and the feeling of ‘Let’s go and have a good time!’ and like, go see a live band in public—I feel like that definitely helped catapult us.

Georgia: I think we’d be maximalist anyway.

Sofi: Who has resonated most closely with your music?

Abigail: When we’ve been playing shows, like the last UK tour on the European tour, predominantly the front row, and the people that we see after the show waiting to talk to us and sign things, are mainly young women and queer people. I think that’s what we kind of projected our audience to be like at the beginning because when we set out writing [songs] and making the band, we thought, Oh, well we want to be the kind of band we would’ve wanted to see as teenagers. That’s really rewarding to see that happening. But really, we don’t see ourselves as being exclusively for one group or another. We don’t want to close ourselves off to any group because another wonderful thing we’ve noticed is that there’s so much range at our shows. Maybe it’s queer women at the front, and then there’s older fans and people from all different walks of life. I think that’s also really exciting and pleasing to see that we’re not just speaking to one group of people. It’s nice to feel inclusive, and to know people can relate in many different ways, even if they don’t have the same experiences as us, or are in different places in life.

“There was no pre-existing intention to be like, I want this, I want to write all these songs like this. It’s just what came out at the time.”

Sofi: Your fans seem to really understand the assignment when it comes to attire and essence, often donning corsets and gowns and vintage styles to your live performances, just basically copying or mimicking your style to a T during live shows. What is it like to look out to an audience of people who resonate so hard with this world you’ve created?

Georgia: It’s really beautiful to look out into a crowd of people who are dressed like how you’ve been dressing for years and to see a group of people who have been brought together because they also love a kind of extravagance in dress and find safety and community in our shows. The fact that we’re all dressed quite similarly has this sort of communal, almost ritualistic thing about it, and it’s a great way of feeling connected to the fans. We all become a part of this bigger mob of people who are wearing flowers in their hair and screaming. There’s something really sweet and quite comforting about that.

Top Left: Georgia wears jacket and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Top Right: Lizzie holds jacket by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Bottom Left: Abigail wears coat and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Emily wears top and skirt by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Georgia wears top, skirt, and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Bottom Right: Georgia wears top, skirt, and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Lizzie wears sweater, trousers, and shoes by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Abigail wears jacket and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr.

Sofi: The lyrics throughout the album poetically discuss notions of femininity, gender, sexuality, womanhood, religion. Was there a consistent theme or message you guys wanted to convey in the lyrics across all 12 tracks of Prelude to Ecstasy?

Abigail: I think that came naturally, because most of the songs that I had written were between ages 18 and 21. I think it’s just following the advice of ‘write what you know.’ The lyrics are very much from real life, how I’ve interpreted the world and what I’ve seen and been through. There was no pre-existing intention to be like, I want this, I want to write all these songs like this. It’s just what came out at the time. There was no real big drawing board or planning. In retrospect, seeing the collection of songs together, it’s Oh, that’s what I’m preoccupied by.

Sofi: Critics and fans alike have compared you to everyone from Florence and the Machine to Queen. But I want to know from you, which artists would you say you draw the most inspiration from?

Georgia: Yeah. I mean, they’ve both been referenced over and over and over in our own music. David Bowie as well, Kate Bush, people who are sort of interested in art and music as a holistic process, who actively author their own careers, and become chameleonic in a way. I think we find that very inspiring. Musically, people like Florence and Queen do have that sort of maximalist sensibility. So just like, you know, incorporating incredibly orchestrated sections as well as operatic and then heavy rock…they’re deeply inspiring.

Lizzie: That spoke to me, what you were saying about artists who, when you watch them, you can feel that they care about the process of creating the overall world and giving the audience that experience. I’d say Mitski as well for me, I think she does that really well. You can see she thinks about the lighting, the movement, the performance and the music as an all encompassing world for you to immerse yourself in.

Sofi: Do you guys have assigned roles in the music production process? How does it all come together?

Abigail: So the first record, most of the songs began as just piano demos that I’d done. Then we’d work on it all together and build it up. Everyone would write their parts and have ideas on how to turn it into a different thing. It’s a really beautiful way of working. We’re still writing and working on stuff for album two, and that’s been a really fun process of figuring out different ways of writing and experimenting, jamming, bringing in different ideas. I think part of the art ethos of creating music is always finding what is the most interesting, exciting way to make something, and not sticking to the same formula.

Aurora: Being all in a room jamming together is one great way of writing where you’re experiencing a song together and fitting an idea. And then, like on tour, mostly it will be making demos on Logic that we’ll do individually, but then it doesn’t feel real until we’ve played it all together as a band and it starts to come to life.

Left: Aurora wears dress by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Right: Georgia wears sweater and skirt by McQueen by Seán McGirr.

Sofi: Are there any narratives or stereotypes surrounding classic rock bands that you’re hoping to change?

Lizzie: I would love if us being successful and known in the music world would stop any bitter 60 year old sound engineer in Brighton—after seeing a band with women in it—from being surprised that we can play. I wish it could be like, Yeah of course. I’m gonna treat you the same as all the other guitarists. That’s our legacy: that people are not surprised when women can play music. That would be great.

Sofi: One thing that I kept on picking up throughout a bunch of different articles that I was reading was there are always older men who are like, Oh, wow, they’re actually really good. Like, okay?

Lizzie: Like wow, my imposter syndrome is gone, thanks.

Sofi: Emily, you were in a Queen cover band. What is it like to see all your idols like Brian May acknowledge you and receive this respect and honor from industry greats?

Emily: It’s just a crazy full-circle, rewarding moment. It does give you a bit of imposter syndrome, but, yeah, it was amazing. It was so incredible.

Sofi: When can we expect new music, or are you guys still riding the wave of Prelude?

Georgia: Soon, probably next year.

Abigail: I’m excited to start writing again. I think we really missed having that time because being on tour is really amazing. But it’s really hard to be able to sit down and write properly because we’re so busy and full of adrenaline and it’s been all about doing the shows. I think we’re really excited to come home, have a big break, and then be able to be in the studio, writing together, having that space again. We’re really looking forward to that.

Left: Aurora wears jacket and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Lizzie wears jacket, boots, and bag by McQueen by Seán McGirr. Right: Abigail wears jacket, skirt, and boots by McQueen by Seán McGirr.

Hair Chi Wong at MA+ Talent using Hair by Sam McKnight. Make-up Rebecca Wordingham at MA+ Talent using Armani Beauty. Manicure Abena Robinson at Agency 41. Digital Technician Giorgio Lattanzi. Photo Assistants Ed Bourmier, Hayleigh Longman, Desiree Adams. Stylist Assistant Rachel Doku. Tailor Faye Oakenfull. Hair Assistant Makoto Hayashi. Make-up Assistant Tamsin Ballingall. Manicure Assistant Yuca Murakami. Production Webber Represents. Production Director Lisa Olsson Hjerpe.