CARDINALS
Masquerade (So Young)
After a year of touring and steadily building their reputation, Cork indie band Cardinals’ debut album encapsulates the energy of the October live show I caught in Cardiff. Masquerade is an album full of fluctuating intensity, bringing both the calm and the storm.
Opener She Makes Me Real is a national anthem-like introduction, led by bold brass instrumentation and quickly accelerating into a classic indie rock ballad. St. Agnes’ upbeat chords are contrasted against dramatic, passionate vocals: the song plays with dynamics brilliantly, typifying an album of emotional highs and lows. The title track is relaxed at first, though still delivering its share of distorted guitar, and when it threatens to sink too deeply into melancholy, an unexpected accordion outro lifts the mood.
The accordion proves to be a standout feature of Cardinals’ music: on Over At Last, its eerie droning notes fill the silence in quiet vocal focused sections before the compelling, booming choruses. Lonely, tender lyrics accompany its romantic tone, hopefulness steeped in longing, and lead singer Euan Manning’s vocals carry a feeling of raw desperation.
The mid-album Anhedonia injects fresh energy and a Fontaines D.C.-esque edge, racing, repetitive instrumentation alongside storytelling lyrics. The intensity peaks with Burning Of Cork, a nod to the band’s hometown and Masquerade’s heaviest moment. Six-minute album closer As I Breathe brings things back down to earth, feeling like a moment of contemplation before speeding up and swelling in volume.
Blending indie rock energy with moments of vulnerability and bold, distinctive instrumental touches, Masquerade captures a band fully stepping into their own sound. Cardinals are a name worth remembering.
words CEIRIOS BEBB
