Brit Awards: Indie band Last Dinner Party win rising star prize

Indie band The Last Dinner Party have been crowned the winners of the Brits Rising Star prize.

The five-piece are one of the year's most talked-about new acts, thanks to their swooping, dramatic singles and theatrical stage costumes.

They now follow in the footsteps of Adele and Sam Fender, who are previous winners of the rising star prize.

Singer Abigail Morris described the honour as "a bit like having an our-of-body experience".

"It's one we can tell our family about and they'll be like, 'Yeah, that is quite massive,'" she told BBC Radio 1.

The band said they'd found out about the prize "at a truck stop in Germany" while travelling to a gig in Prague.

"A couple of us were inside trying to buy granola bars and coffee," said guitarist Lizzie Mayland.

"Then we just ran around in the snow and kicked sleet at each other and screamed and terrorised the locals.

"So it was a squeal and a hug and then trying to find some champagne."

Voted for by an industry-wide panel, the rising star prize recognises British artists who had not achieved a top 20 album, or more than one top 20 single by 31 October this year.

Pop singer Caity Baser and soul sensation Sekou were also in the running for this year's award.

The Last Dinner Party came together in 2020, after its members met at gigs around London.

They had just started rehearsing when the pandemic struck - but lockdown gave them the opportunity to develop their baroque indie-pop sound, inspired by the likes of Kate Bush, David Bowie and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

"We played our first show like it was the Pyramid Stage. There was never a choppy, scrappy period."

The group recorded their debut album with Arctic Monkeys producer James Ford last December, but put it on ice so they could spend 2023 building up their reputation on the live circuit.

Over the course of the year, they skipped from venue to venue, upgrading from pubs and clubs to concert halls holding 1,200 fans; while securing support slots with Florence + The Machine, Lana Del Rey and Hozier.

Fans were asked to come in costume - with individual concerts dedicated to themes like Greek myths, folk horror and "the language of flowers".

The release of the majestic, hook-laden single Nothing Matters in April lit a rocket under their career, and the follow-ups Sinner and My Lady Of Mercy proved they had material to spare.

Morris said the public's embrace of those songs was the true measure of success.

"It's amazing to win an award and we're very lucky and honoured - but in real life it's about the music that we've made, and the people who buy the records and dress up and sing the songs."

The band will release their album, Prelude to Ecstasy, in February; and collect their Brit Award when the ceremony takes place at London's O2 Arena on 2 March, 2024.

They are also on the longlist for the BBC's Sound Of 2024 prize, for which the winner will be revealed in January.