The Last Dinner Party
From The Pyre
Struts to the borders of prog but is too pop-baroque to cross
The Arts Desk
The Last Dinner Party
From The Pyre
Sees them explore darker themes, reflections on the realities of fame and the biggest tunes they've ever made. The result is a record that might just be better than their acclaimed debut
Rolling Stone
The Last Dinner Party
From The Pyre
Rich in ideas and confidence, the follow-up to Prelude To Ecstasy takes the concept of ‘the difficult second album’, screws it up in a ball and throws it over its shoulder while laughing
musicOMH
The Last Dinner Party
From The Pyre
The extrovert quintet hold their nerve and deliver another wild pop ride. Print edition only
Uncut
The Last Dinner Party
From The Pyre
While Prelude might feature thicker arrangements and traffic more in classic pathos, with Pyre, TLDP are as sublime and theatrical as ever
The Line Of Best Fit
The Last Dinner Party
From The Pyre
Insanely rich with ideas, hooks, smart artifice and real emotion, From The Pyre is a feast of giddy raptures
Record Collector
The Last Dinner Party
From The Pyre
Both thematically and sonically richer
DIY
Madi Diaz
Fatal Optimist
Rather than lean into the pop instincts that helped make 2024’s Grammy-nominated, Weird Faith something of a breakthrough, Madi Diaz turns inward and toward spare arrangements on Fatal Optimist. Complicated emotions and messy people are depicted using direct language and simple sounds, and Diaz wears her hurt heart on her sleeve
Spectrum Culture
Madi Diaz
Fatal Optimist
It’s open, self-conscious in a way that feels completely honest, and lathered in the soft fabrics of hope even when the words themselves are sharp
Far Out
Madi Diaz
Fatal Optimist
The album closes with its title track, giving space for life to unfold again, carried by a band that creates the perfect sense of movemen
Northern Transmissions
Madi Diaz
Fatal Optimist
Madi Diaz lays everything bare and achieves a certain wisdom through the heartbreak
PopMatters
Madi Diaz
Fatal Optimist
Scales back her sound, but not her devastating emotional honesty
Rolling Stone