Cork’s critically acclaimed band Cardinals have officially announced their highly anticipated debut album, Masquerade, set for release on February 13th. The ten-song record, which was recorded at London’s RAK Studios, is a testament to the band’s early promise, crafting a sound that is both grand and intimate. To mark the announcement, the quintet has also shared the album’s captivating title track, an enthralling new single that serves as an enticing preview of their new work.
Of the single, the band’s frontman, Euan Manning, states,
Something the record looks at is peeling back the ‘masquerade’ or the facade we all put up. The curtain is pulled and cynicism takes its place – it’s really easy to be cynical and far harder to be hopeful and genuine. We’ve learnt this through playing and touring but you can’t be a total cynic if you’re making music or films or whatever it is, making art forces you to dig deeper than that protective layer. Stripping it back is painful, you can find things you’re really not proud of but it also lends itself to a sort of acceptance that can’t be attained if you don’t allow yourself that vulnerability. A lot of the themes and ideas in the album come from that place.
The song Masquerade is the broadest exploration of that. It’s definitely one of the more intimate moments on the album. The vulnerability it reveals is uncomfortable and that’s where we wanted to be when we were writing the songs on the record.
A truly distinct release, the album is structured with a clear A-side and B-side, creating a vivid contrast between its light and dark halves. While some songs simmer with fervent discontent, others gleam with bright-eyed vulnerability, drawing on influences that range from the honesty of folk to the theatrical melodrama of goth rock. Comprised of family and close friends, the band has solidified its position at the forefront of the Irish independent rock scene with a sound made instantly recognisable by the striking use of the accordion on their early singles, including “Big Empty Heart.”
Having already built a reputation for their live performances, most recently supporting The Pogues in Boston and sharing a bill with Fontaines D.C. at Finsbury Park, the band will finish their current US headline tour before returning to the UK to headline the So Young tour. They have also confirmed a run of headline dates across mainland Europe in late November, rounding out a busy year of touring.
