Cardinals announce debut album Masquerade and share title track

Following lauded support slots for Fontaines D.C. at Finsbury Park and The Pogues in Boston, Cardinals have announced their eagerly awaited debut album, Masquerade – out February 13, via So Young Records.

To coincide with the news, the Cork five-piece have shared the project's title track, and an accompanying music video.

The ten-track LP – recorded at RAK Studios in London with producer Shrink – is described as "a record that is at once grand and intimate, awash with romance and flickers of holy imagery..."

Made up of brothers Euan and Finn Manning, their cousin Darragh and their former schoolmates Oskar Gudinovic and Aaron Hurley, Cardinals have established themselves as one of the Irish scene's most promising emerging acts, following a string of well-received singles, and their 2024 self-titled EP.

Masquerade features the track 'Big Empty Heart', released as a single back in June.

Speaking about the album, and its title track, frontman Euan says the record looks at "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," he resumes. "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.”

Masquerade is available to pre-order now here.

Watch the video for 'Masquerade', directed by Greg Purcell, below:

Masquerade tracklist:
She Makes Me Real
St. Agnes
Masquerade
I Like You
Over At Last
Anhedonia
Barbed Wire
Big Empty Heart
The Burning Of Cork
As I Breathe

Cardinals' upcoming live dates:
16th September - Zebulon, Los Angeles, CA
22nd September - Bristol, Strange Brew
23rd September 2025 - Southampton, Joiners
25th September 2025 - Norwich, Waterfront Studio
26th September 2025 - Leeds, Belgrave
27th September 2025- Manchester, Yes Pink Room
29th September 2025- Brighton, Patterns
30th September 2025 - London, Moth Club

24th November 2025 - Paris, Point Ephemere
26th November 2025 - Berlin, Kantine
27th November 2025 - Düsseldorf, Ratinger Hof
28th November 2025 - Gent, Trefpunt
29th November 2025 - Nijmegen, Doornroosje
30th November 2025 - Amsterdam, Tolhuistuin