Selling out a UK and European tour in 10 minutes flat would be a landmark moment for any artist. But, for blossoming pop star Alessi Rose, it’s arrived totally out of the blue. “The headline tour is definitely the thing that is burning a hole in my brain right now,” she marvels. “I can’t fathom this is real.”
If you were in a band, what would be your marker of success? Selling out a stadium maybe, or releasing a chart-topping album? Cardinals may not quite have got to those milestones yet, but they have got at least one accolade to point to: meeting Irish President Michael Higgins at a fancy soirée in his garden (obviously).
“Yeah, that was pretty strange,” laughs guitarist Oskar Gudinovic. “It was in a big marquee, like some kind of wedding.”
“All seated as well, with finger food being passed around,” adds guitarist and vocalist Euan Manning. “Michael Higgins was swinging his hands around to the music, we met Imelda May and had some wine with her – it was cool.”
Fever-dream esque meetings with heads of state aside, it’s been a busy year for the Cork natives, with their self-titled EP being released in June, and new song ‘Get It’ following in early October. Throw in support slots with Kings of Leon, festival appearances, and their first ever headline tour, and it’s a hell of a schedule for a band right out the gate.
“We’re so busy we don’t have time to think about it,” says Euan. “There’s no time off, but in a nice way. It’s a good build.”
“We’ve no time to dwell on it, so it doesn’t feel momentous in the moment.” agrees bassist Aaron Hurley. “It definitely doesn’t feel like we’re established as a band yet. I don’t know if a band is truly established until they release their debut album – maybe not even then. There’s always something else to achieve, so it’s hard to pick a point and say: ‘we’ve made it’.
A philosophy of taking it moment by moment and constantly reaching the next milestone isn’t unique to the band, but the ease with which they’ve hit new levels one after the other just might be. Since releasing their first single ‘Amsterdam’ just a couple of years ago, they’ve ploughed their own furrow with a sound which sometimes settles near Echo & The Bunnymen, sometimes REM, and sometimes somewhere completely different. Latest single ‘Get It’ is yet another shift, half love-song and half melancholic reflection on peoples’ changing natures, it’s also maybe the poppiest track they’ve released to date. “The reaction’s been class,” says Oskar. “It’s even reached America pretty well.”
“We’re breaking America!” laughs Euan, to grins from his bandmates. “We just wanted to write a pop song, so we did. I think we succeeded in that, or I hope so, anyway.”
This restlessness, coupled with a healthy dose of self-confidence, is at the core of a band who aren’t content to find a sound and stick safely within its boundaries, but instead seem keen to constantly try new things from song to song. Despite this wide range of influences, Euan’s unique vocals and the looming presence of key touchpoints like Cork, the city they’re from, ensure they’ll never be mistaken for another band, no matter how adventurous their next single. “We’re writing the album at the moment, and there is a feeling of making it more thematically and sonically consistent,” acknowledges Euan. “It’s coming together very strongly, and I feel like it’s in a good place. An album is a statement, so it’ll be quite different to the EP in that regard.”
“We look at the EP as a collection of songs,” adds Aaron. “Thematically it isn’t continuous – there’s a lot of experimentation there and we wrote them quite a while ago, so there’s a difference from the album. Those songs from the EP are still evolving though, we make new connections with them every time we play them live.”
Making those connections without slipping into autopilot is what makes Cardinals’ shows such a draw, with every venue we’ve seen them at being packed to the rafters with dedicated fans – something which is even more impressive considered how new they still are. Most gigs abroad are in countries they’re playing for the first time, but fans seem to be waiting expectantly everywhere they go. When we speak to them, they’re gearing up for their first ever transatlantic gigs, playing two shows in The Big Apple before the year is out. “We’ve not played New York before – I don’t think any of us have even been there before!” says Euan. “We’re looking forward to taking in the Christmas feeling, going to Macy’s or skating on an ice rink or something. I dunno, whatever it is they do over there.” He says with a laugh.
Part of the joy for any band is the opportunity to fly thousands of miles away and experience a new country while technically claiming it’s all for work and you’re definitely not only doing it so you can see the Statue of Liberty and take photos of yellow taxicabs (No, just us? – Ed). But distance can also reduce a band down to a few broad strokes in the eyes of wherever they’re going, with a band like Cardinals running the risk of being labelled one-dimensionally as an ‘Irish band’, with none of the nuance that entails. “You can definitely feel the fetishisation of Irish culture, both in the UK and the US, and further afield.” says Euan. “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to throw away or neglect our heritage. We’re quite proud Irish men, and proud Cork men as well. We just take it in our stride. There is a lot to take from our cultural identity, and there’s no point putting that on the backburner just because we’re afraid of people fetishising it.”
This pride in where they’re from can be felt in lyrical references to Cork, sprinkled through Cardinals’ songs, and the inspiration taken from the city’s literary heritage. “We all still live in the city, and we’re reading writers or artists like Kevin Barry and Frank O’Connor, we’re listening to The Frank and Walters, or the Sultans of Ping – Cork is still a huge part of who we are.” Euan says. “But that’s not to say we aren’t pulling from all over the place as well. Nowadays it’s so easy to get your hands on different media, different books, so of course that has an impact on our songs and will do on the album, too.”
With the debut album clearly being the band’s focus at the moment, is it something we could be seeing before next year is out? “There’s stuff pencilled in, but…” Euan says, to smiles from the rest of the band. “It’ll be out when it’s out. I’m not sure it’d help us to put a harsh deadline on it, we’re just riding the wave at the moment.” that’s not to say Cardinals won’t be drawn on what will be happening next year though. “Stardom.” says Aaron, struggling to maintain a straight face as Oskar and Euan break into laughter. For most bands, it’d be an absurd exaggeration – for Cardinals? We’re not so sure.
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