After 24 years, Rialto are back with new single, the nocturnal party prowl “No One Leaves This Discotheque Alive” and the announcement of brand new album “Neon And Ghost Signs” (25.04.25). They play London's Scala on 14th May 2025.
Theirs is a reunion spurred on not so much by a longing for the past as an urgency to grab the best of life while they can. Six years ago, while holidaying in Spain, singer and song-writer Louis Eliot was rushed to hospital for extreme emergency surgery, mere hours from death. His full recovery was an epiphany. “What you might think is if you have a very close to death experience you want to start looking after yourself,” he says. “I just went chasing full speed after my youth. I was just like, fuck it, I might not be here next week, I'm just going to dive in.”
Rialto, for the uninitiated, were the band too sophisticated for Britpop. Emerging from the wreckage of Kinky Machine (1991-5) into a decade of primary colour ladrock and cartoonish alt-pop culture, this cultured five-piece (Eliot and his ex-Kinky guitarist cohort Jonny Bull, plus bassist Julian Taylor, keyboardist Toby Hounsham and drummers Pete Cuthbert and Anthony Christmas) were stylish interlopers. They took their name from a defunct British cinema chain - "The music would sound perfect in a dilapidated theatre with torn, red velvet seats" said Eliot. Tracks such as ‘When We’re Together’, ‘Monday Morning 5.19’ and ‘Untouchable’, from their self-titled 1998 debut album, echoed the bright synthetic melody of the era but imbued with the suave drama of classic cinema, French chanson, ‘60s pop classicism and a frisson of seedy romance.
The band found favour with critics; Melody Maker anticipating "a fairytale future of Oasis-like proportions" and Neil McCormick of The Telegraph noting they were "among the most critically acclaimed new groups to emerge" in the late 1990s. After some record label hopscotch, the debut album was released in 1998, with Night on Earth following in 2001. They had 3 UK top 40 singles, including Top 20 Untouchable and found a loyal following in South East Asia, bringing double platinum sales. Rialto will be touring again in 2025 to support their new album Neon and Ghost Signs.