FAMOUS LAST WORDS: VINCENT’S LAST SUMMER

By Resonate | March 4, 2026

Alexandra Burke has won X Factor, Manchester United have just won the league, and Pete Doherty has been released from prison. It’s 2008 again. Life is good. 

Enter Vincent’s Last Summer, the Manchester duo consisting of James Highland-Partington and Tommy Melbourne, who share vocal duties, reviving indie sleaze while pairing it with 90s teenage post-punk sonics full of playful swagger.

Live, they’re theatrical, transporting their audiences back to the late 2000s, where they hit their heads and are currently stuck, their only connection to the outside world being through their music and a red telephone. 

Taking inspiration from the likes of LCD Soundsystem, MGMT, and Pulp (the band name a nod to the closing track on His ‘N’ Hers), Vincent’s Last Summer takes 2008, club culture, parties, and things being quite sexy, people letting go of themselves, forgetting about real life, and enjoying themselves at nightlife. This whole party atmosphere is captured within their music, which sonically resembles The Dare and the chaos of Courting.

Having supported the latter, as well as Chloe Slater and Welly on tours, as well as Truck Festival over the summer, and being championed by the likes of Dork Magazine (having played on their Hype List Tour at the beginning of the year) and CLASH, VLS are on the rise, and one’s to be keeping a close eye on in 2026. Nothing will stop them. Apart from maybe The Financial Crash… 

They’re on course to do great things, but Resonate wanted to find out the most important details about the rising stars – what are their weird hobbies? What was the last thing they broke? What would they cook for us if we went round for tea? We caught up with James to seek answers. 

What’s your favourite way to cook a potato? 

Bake it. Stick that in the oven for a good while then some cheesy beans, please.

Resonate Magazine is coming round for tea. What are you cooking for us? 

If I hadn’t just impulsively made a jacket potato, I’d probably rustle up an evening fry up. Breakfast food in the evening is great and you should be able to eat it all day. America gets it right.

If you could only smell one smell for the rest of your life, what would you choose? 

Dad’s Garden Lemon Tree from Lush.

Do you have any weird hobbies and what are they? 

I love Super Mario games. Specifically the 3D platformers. Galaxy is one of the best games ever made and if I’m booting up a game to make me truly happy, it’s gonna be that one.

What was the last thing you broke? 

My Christmas lights in my flat keep falling down, they’re not *broken* yet, but I fear one or two more heavy hits with the ground will see them off. The last thing I broke was probably a glass – I can be very clumsy.

If you were to go on a night out with three people, dead or alive, who would you pick and why?

Paris Hilton, Steve Coogan, Tommy. I think we’d all make quite a team.

What’s your favourite supermarket? 

Lidl. Forever.

What colour is your toothbrush? 

They’ve always been a shade of blue. The one I take on the road is a darker blue and the one at home is a little lighter. Always manages to be blue though.

What’s your most irrational superstition? 

Wearing the same England shirt for every game during an international tournament. Once we’ve won and I’m wearing a specific shirt, it’s being hung right back up again for the next game. Washing can wait.

We have a segment called Fuck The Charts – what’s one artist you think everyone should be checking out right now?

Your Mate’s Ex – they’re crazy!

If we were to give you £10 right now, what would you spend it on? 

Cheap lager, crisps and my tea. It would be a good night indeed.

If you were to go on a game show, which one would you want to go on?

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? But with Chris Tarrant back in the presenter’s chair. I was obsessed with that show when I was young, the music is so eerie I love it.

If you could see any artist living or dead, in any place, who would you see and where would you see them?

I would see the Ting Tings play songs from their debut album. Maybe I wouldn’t even want it to be in a gig venue. Maybe it should be in a NEXT or a Top Shop. Somewhere clothes can be flung around.

And finally, what’s next for Vincent’s Last Summer?

Lots of new music. Lots of gigs. I read the WikiHow on DJing, so expect some of that too. We’re going to be like blue-arsed flies.

WORDS FROM KATIE HILLIER