Your New Roman Empire: ‘Caesar On A TV Screen – The Last Dinner Party – Review

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears: I come here not to bury ‘Caesar On A TV Screen’, but to praise it. The latest Roman-infused offering from indie darlings The Last Dinner Party, brilliantly blends both power and poignance in a manner that would please even Apollo the God of Music himself. As the final single before their highly-anticipated debut album, this track sees the group reach an Olympian peak in a year where they have risen from Plebeian roots to imperial status within the British music scene.

‘Caesar On A TV Screen’ begins rather understated. Teasing instrumentation is accompanied by a musical soliloquy courtesy of the band’s enigmatic lead singer Abigail Morris. The tune then explodes from this Roman Peace into an energetic groove that would make even the most disciplined of legions tap their toes along in time. This infectious melody can be attributed to the band’s bassist Georgia Davies, whose catchy licks have been the driving force behind the group’s previous singles. The chorus follows this, crashing in with all the voracity of gladiatorial combat and carrying through to a stirring outro tying together all the previously-introduced elements of this truly triumphant track. Away from the Romanesque bombast of the composition, Morris’ deeply-layered poetic prose explores themes of gender envy and hubris so deftly that it is as if it were ripped directly from one of Shakespeare’s Roman Plays.

Whilst TLDP came, saw and conquered the UK alternative scene, it seems the die is cast on their future. A mid-sized headline tour awaits in America this summer, with the group seeming destined to sellout the largest colosseums and amphitheatres on their return to Britannia in autumn. On an even more exciting note, we won’t have to wait till The Ides of March for new music from the band, with their debut album, ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’, releasing this month.