An Even Score

With his reputation as a composer and producer growing with every new project, work on Elliott Wheeler's debut album was a staggered process from the beginning. Combining his time writing and recording his own material with such projects as Baz Lurhmann's The Great Gatsby and George Miller's upcoming Mad Max sequel meant the album, titled The Long Time, lived up to its name over a six-year gestation period. As technology, collaborators and even his own skill set developed over that time, keeping a set aesthetic for the album became an unexpected issue.

“That was something I was very worried about to start with,” admits Wheeler. “And then I eventually realised that, particularly with a debut album, you've got no idea what your sound is anyway. So I decided that that sound and that aesthetic would eventually just take form through the collection of songs. I eventually gave myself a concept to work around, which was I chose scenes from my favourite films from the '60s and '70s, and would use those as a starting point. So I think that helped to keep the tone of the album centred.”

The wait has been worth it though, as Wheeler's album expertly weaves his classical training and film scores into a mesh of jazz, pop and rock. The filmic inspirations give the album a cinematic feel that is brought to life by a series of brilliant guest vocalists. Wheeler's history in film is evident in his ability to convey the emotion of each scene, often to haunting effect.

“The fantastic scene in Bonnie & Clyde where Faye Dunaway looks up at Warren Beatty just as they're about to get covered in a hail of bullets after they realise they've been ambushed, they both realise at the same time that they're not going to be able to get back to each other to have a last embrace before they're mowed down. Faye just has this incredible look of love and longing and regret, but also this happiness that this is the way that they're going to go out together, and this pride in what they've done, and just this incredible pride in who he is as well. This amazing look of love and exaltation in what their adventure has been, all within this one second, and it's just the most fantastic little microcosm of emotion. So I used that as a starting point for the track called The Warning.”

Hearing Wheeler talk so passionately about film makes the connection with Lurhmann a no brainer. Having finished work on The Great Gatsby earlier this year, the two are currently working together again on Strictly Ballroom The Musical. Wheeler is clearly enjoying working with the Australian icon, whose encyclopaedic movie knowledge is well known. “He's incredibly hands-on,” enthuses Wheeler. “Baz is such a force of nature to work with! He has such an incredible vision and such a wonderful way of expressing what that vision is. It's incredible to work with.”