Soundtracks to world fame
Rialto frontman Louis Eliot is a cinephile. How else could you explain him naming his band after a cinema chain, penning a song called Kieslowski, and having a remix simply titled Widescreen? And he minces no words when discussing the influence film has on his work: 'I went to art college, so visual arts have been quite an influence and interest to me,' he says.
'That's why lots of songs that Rialto played have quite a strong visual scent - I always try to paint pictures with lyrics rather than talking and playing with emotions. I would try to paint the scenery that illustrates that emotion.' On paper this might sound like pretentious art-school toss. But when put into action, Eliot and his band have surely perfected the chemistry: with their eponymous debut released last summer, they delivered an album with cinematic overtones so sweeping and grandiose it constituted a collection of soundtracks for non-existent films.
'I like the idea of having a little scenario that told stories and people could empathise with,' he says. 'These might tell stories that might have happened to me, but also might have happened to anybody else. Most of them are quite universal sentiments we are dealing with.' Rialto's breakthrough hit, Monday Morning 5:19, illustrates their sonic breadth. Backed by Motownesque percussion - courtesy of having two drummers - and generous peppering of Hammond organs, synthesisers and spy-film guitars, Eliot describes the sweating paranoia resulting from his lover's phone that went unanswered all through the night. The intensity of the music escalates as the protagonist's imagination runs amok with increasing suspicion.
Other songs run along similar veins in their aesthetics, opting for storytelling in widescreen mode. Broken Barbie Doll is a four-minute run through the life of a faded glamour girl, Lucky Number is an upbeat but suspenseful tale of ringing up a drug dealer to score, while When We're Together is a windswept ode to a love long lost.
'It just seems to come about that most of the songs have a narrative to it, and I do draw on a lot of film soundtracks - people like John Barry, Zbigniew Preisner, Ennio Morricone and [Ryuichi] Sakamoto even,' he says.
'I know there's a certain kind of melancholy that goes through the first album - to me, that has kind of strengthened it. [However], there's also joy within that, which is about pulling through and always keeping your eyes on the stars, always hanging on to your dreams and having resilience and a fighting spirit when tough things happen.
'I think the things that really matter and things worth writing about happen to everyone, whether they are famous or not,' Eliot adds. 'I don't think I'm going to start writing about what it's like riding in the back of a limosine or leaving the backstage of a gig. Maybe it'd be Oasis's job - but if other people can't relate to it then what's the point?' Rialto's demeanour is surely a world apart from the Gallaghers. Instead of thrashing in rock 'n' roll style, Eliot and the band - Jonny Bull (guitars), Julian Taylor (bass), Toby Hounsham (keyboards), Pete Cuthbert and Anthony Christmas (drums) - are more like a boy-band with brains, a sextet that harbour enough musical abilities and creative genius to match their genteel looks and stylish attire.