Last Man Dancing is the second studio album by American singer Jake Shears, released on June 2, 2023, through Boys Keep Swinging and Mute Records. It includes collaborations with Kylie Minogue, Le Chev, Amber Martin and Big Freedia, and contributions from Jane Fonda and Iggy Pop. It was preceded by the release of four singles, including "Too Much Music", released alongside the album announcement on February 2.
Contents
Background
The album began with and was built around Shears's and Kylie Minogue's collaboration "Voices", which was recorded in 2018. At the time Shears had "nowhere for it to go" as he was "making a southern, Honky-tonk record"—his self-titled debut album, and Minogue was making Golden. Shears stated that another of his inspirations was that "intimacy is missing from nightlife. The only way to replace that is to do it yourself. That's where [his] head was at with this record." Shears announced the album on February 2, 2023.
The album's first single, "Too Much Music", received heavy rotation on BBC Radio 2 and Shears performed in several media outlets. It charted on the component Singles Sales and Singles Download charts at number 27. The album debuted and peaked at number 18 on the Official Album Charts and entered the top ten in several component independent charts.
Critical reception
Last Man Dancing received a score of 84 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Heather Phares of AllMusic called it Shears's return to "dance music old and new", writing that he "still finds ways to make club-oriented music that's equally catchy and innovative" and that its "immaculately crafted tracks offer an impressive amount of range" as well as an "abundance of style and imagination". Writing for NME, Gary Ryan opined that it is Shears's "most cohesive attempt to merge th[e] two identities" of "an artist who straddles both the mainstream and the margins", noting that it is also "pure escapism and his most effortless-sounding set since bursting out of the traps nearly 20 years ago".
Like Phares, Michael Hubbard of musicOMH noted the album's two distinct halves, on both of which he felt Shears "offers his hand and guides us expertly through a hedonistic kaleidoscope of disco-pop homage, gay icons, convivial singalongs and, most surprisingly, an outrageously slapping run of bona fide future club classics of his own". Hubbard concluded by calling the album an "essential, repeatable work". Reviewing the album for The Line of Best Fit, David Cobbald described it as "a party to escape to when life gets a little bit too much, and it delivers on its mission statement with abundance", including both "slick disco production" in its first half and "deeper electronic sounds" with "each song blend[ing] seamlessly into the next as though it's being mixed by a DJ at the house party" in its second.
Track listing
Note
^[a] signifies an additional producer.
Last Man Dancing Remixes EP
Several remixes from Last Man Dancing tracks and singles were released between April and September 2023. On October 13, Shears released an eight track EP containing all of them via Mute Records. All releases contained pictures of his late dog Toby (Nov. 2007-Mar. 2023) in the set for the album's artwork photoshoot. Remixers include album collaborators Big Freedia and Le Chev plus other guests such as Hifi Sean, YAME, Lauer, Erol Alkan and The Reflex.
Personnel
Mike Marsh – mastering
Ryland Blackinton – mixing (tracks 1–3, 5)
Vaughn Oliver – mixing (1–3)
Alexander Ridha – mixing (4, 6–11)
Carlos Alomar – guitar (1)
Kylie Minogue – vocals (3)
Craig Phunder – guitar (6)
Jake Shears – artwork concept
Rich Andrews – art direction, design
Edward Cooke – photography
Phoebe Shakespeare – set design