Jake Shears - Last Man Dancing (LP) - Clear Vinyl

Jake Shears has always treated pop like a living, breathing night out, and his second solo album, Last Man Dancing, leans right into that instinct. Out in June 2023, it arrives with the sort of confidence you only get from years fronting clubs and festivals as the voice of Scissor Sisters. The record is a full‑body invitation. It glitters, it bounces, and it knows exactly when to put a hand on your shoulder and say stay a little longer.

The opening stretch is pure giddy rush. Too Much Music feels like a manifesto set to a four‑on‑the‑floor pulse, the kind of track that grins at the idea of excess and then orders another round anyway. Strings shimmer, synths bite, and Shears belts with that elastic tenor that can flip from wink to ache inside a bar. I Used to Be in Love follows as the sparkling, arms‑aloft catharsis, all sticky hooks and disco swagger, the kind of tune that makes you check your reflection in a train window and start dancing on the platform. Do the Television keeps the momentum up with a glam stomp and a chanty chorus that is ripe for a rowdy sing‑along, a reminder that Shears has always known how to make camp feel like community.

What sets Last Man Dancing apart is the way it pivots midway into a proper club trip. The front half gives you singles and sugar. The back half goes deeper and darker, slipping into long, rolling grooves and DJ‑style transitions that blur one track into the next. It is a clever bit of sequencing, a throwback to nights when albums taught you how to stay up late. The title track works as the hinge. It is a pep‑talk for the stubbornly hopeful, and when the beat locks in you can practically feel the temperature in the room rise. Production here prizes texture and velocity over cheap drops. Kicks thump, hi‑hats skitter, bass lines rub up against your ribs. You can hear echoes of Hi‑NRG and classic house, but everything is polished with a modern pop ear that keeps it moving.

Shears remains a magnetic presence at the centre. He sings with a mix of theatre‑kid bravado and real tenderness, the tone he perfected on Scissor Sisters records now tempered by a few more miles and better stories. The lyrics nod to messy romances, late‑night epiphanies, and that stubborn spark that keeps us chasing euphoria even when the sun is creeping up. It is never po‑faced. Even when he is taking a hard look at a habit or a heartbreak, there is a punchline tucked in the bridge, or a melody that turns the sting into a kiss.

Critics clocked the charm. UK music press praised the album’s joyous focus and the gutsy decision to let the second half run like a club set. Fans have already anointed a few favourites. Too Much Music and I Used to Be in Love are the obvious playlist magnets, but it is the deeper run of the back half that keeps people talking after a few spins. You go in for the glitter and stay for the groove.

On wax, the record really shines. The low end is warm, the treble sparkles, and the continuous flow of the latter tracks feels purpose‑built for a living room dance party. If you are hunting for Jake Shears vinyl, this is an easy add, and it sits nicely alongside his earlier work and your Scissor Sisters stash. Last Man Dancing vinyl copies have been popping up in local shops, and if you cannot get to your go‑to Melbourne record store, you can always buy Jake Shears records online through the usual indie outlets. It is the kind of album that makes sense in a crate with your disco reissues and modern pop oddities, a bright bridge between eras that sounds huge on a decent system. For those searching Jake Shears albums on vinyl or browsing vinyl records Australia late at night, consider this your nudge.

What lingers after the glitter settles is the generosity of the whole thing. Shears builds a world where the dance floor is both refuge and riot, where pop hooks live happily next to long grooves, and where being the last one dancing is not a boast so much as a promise to keep the lights on for the rest of us. Put it on, turn it up, and see if you do not end up texting a mate to come over with a bottle and a story.