“A lot” is how The Last Dinner Party’s Lizzie Mayland describes the past two years. Their debut single ‘Nothing Matters’ followed a number of buzzy live gigs across London and promptly thrust the five-piece into the spotlight. Their first album’ Prelude To Ecstasy’ came 12 months later, sending the band to the top of the charts and out on a lengthy world tour. “I will always remember watching Arctic Monkeys from the side of stage after we supported them [at Bilbao BBK Live],” Lizzie tells Dork. “I’ve had some of the best moments of my life since releasing the album, but there were also some really tough times as well.”
Those difficult moments are what inspired Lizzie’s first solo EP. ‘The Slow Fire Of Sleep’ is out in May, and the track’s first and only single ‘Lighthouse’ has just arrived.
“It’s a really simple acoustic guitar song, and there’s something quite grounding about that,” Lizzie explains. For years, they’d written “quiet, sad songs” that they never released, but once they returned to the quiet of home after tour at the end of last year, they found themselves returning to that style of music. Compared to the loud, bright excitement of The Last Dinner Party, the songs felt incredibly comforting. “I realised I am still the same quiet, sometimes melancholic person, and it gave me space to acknowledge that, yes, I do feel quite hopeless about the world, and I had spent a lot of time feeling homesick and scared. It helped me process the madness.”
At first, the songs were written for Lizzie to work through an emotionally turbulent time. The ambitions started and ended with the thought of maybe performing them at an open-mic night. By the time they’d finished all five, though, the collection of tracks felt like an EP that just wouldn’t work in The Last Dinner Party (“They just felt so personal, and the band really hasn’t explored that folky, singer-songwriter style”), so they asked Imogen Williams (Imogen And the Knife) and Will Lister to work on it with them.
Taking inspiration from Joni Mitchell, Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker, Nick Drake and Amy Winehouse, the trio used strings to make the songs sound as big as possible without getting in the way of that tender vulnerability. “They’re all very insular and introspective,” says Lizzie. “The common themes were loneliness and belonging, love and sadness.”
“Super honest” single ‘Lighthouse’ is about falling in love and how terrifying that can be. “It’s about finding someone who you believe is a guiding light in your life. I’ve never really had a romantic partner who’s a safe place for me before, and what a feeling to have someone who makes you feel supported. I feel very lucky to have that right now but the fear of losing that is devastating.” The song is all about balancing independence and leaning into that feeling of safety without relying on it. “Love is complicated, and just because you’re scared, it doesn’t mean it’s bad,” they add.
Like many of the songs on ‘The Slow Fire Of Sleep’, Lizzie is brave enough to leave things unresolved. There are no neat conclusions or promises of a happy ever after. The title of the record is partly inspired by the lack of sleep Lizzie was getting on tour, the loneliness that comes from being away from loved ones, but also the fear and horror of waking up to another devastating news story about the world slowly sinking into more chaos and division. “The truth is that the worst is yet to come,” they sing on the soaring title-track, which also ends the record. “It’s how I feel some of the time when I think about the world. It feels very accurate to the underlying edge that is going on. It’s definitely not a happy ending.”
“It feels like a song for the younger generations,” they continue. “I hope hearing me sing about how utterly hopeless I feel about the climate, politics, and the general state of the world will make other people feel less alone in their own vulnerable, sad thoughts.”
That desire to create a sense of belonging is also explored in ‘Mother Mother’, a gorgeous song about the mother-centric type of femininity that Lizzie was raised on. “There was this deep feeling of shame when I realised I wasn’t comfortable being nurturing to children,” they explain. “I hope it speaks to other genderqueer people and makes others feel less shame about maybe not wanting to have kids.”
Lizzie has always written personal songs for themselves but this EP also takes inspiration from their time in The Last Dinner Party. “I’m so inspired by Abi’s writing and how poetic and visual she is. She really showed me that you can be vulnerable in songs without having to hold someone’s hand and explain each emotion. I remember her saying in an interview that the more personal the song, the more people can truly connect to what you’re singing about, and based on the reaction to [‘Prelude To Ecstasy’], that’s very true.”
When they were younger, Lizzie wanted to be a jazz singer like Amy Winehouse. “Growing up in rural Yorkshire, being a musician isn’t a real job, though. It was never really modelled for me,” they explain. It’s why a track like ‘Homeward’, a love letter to the Yorkshire countryside, also wrestles with the past, the present and that sense of belonging. “I’m very impacted by places and being genderqueer, I’m always asking myself, ‘Do I feel seen here?’ and ‘Do I feel comfortable?’. It’s an ongoing process,” they explain before pausing. “I’ve felt like an imposter a lot during The Last Dinner Party.”
They were always worried about how much they actually contributed to the band. “If I’m not writing the lyrics, the main melody or coming up with the chords, am I really doing much?” they’d ask themselves. “Being forced to follow your nose, command a room and be so independent has been empowering. Doing this EP is the first time I’ve felt like a musician in my own right, even if I’ve spent the last year on a world tour.” Being able to take that confidence back to The Last Dinner Party has been “really great”.
That’s right, The Last Dinner Party fans, Lizzie isn’t going anywhere. “I’m so excited for the second album. It’s been such a long time since we wrote that first album, but we’ve all learnt a lot. Being in a room together and understanding each other a bit more has been amazing,” they explain, with the band currently toying with aesthetic mood boards to create a visual world that’ll go alongside the new music.” There’s a lot of sadness and anger in the new songs, but there are also some bops and some fun, sexy, great times. The content of them is really powerful.”
Just by making ‘The Slow Fire Of Sleep’, Lizzie already feels like their solo project is a success but there’s more to come. They’re set to play two live shows in London and Manchester to celebrate the record’s release, and new music has been written with those gigs in mind. “I remember when ‘Nothing Matters’ came out, and it just felt weird because I was in my room just watching things happen online, and that just made me feel anxious. It was only when we played a show that it made sense to me. I’m doing those shows because I want to feel the energy in the room when I’m being vulnerable. My goal with this EP is to keep feeling it, however that comes about.”
“There is a safety net when you’re in a band, and I’m already proud of myself for being so vulnerable in my own art,” Lizzie adds. “I’m sure it will be very scary when it actually comes out but I’m excited for people to see me as my own musical entity.”
L.Mayland’s debut EP ‘The Slow Fire Of Sleep’ is out on 9th May.
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