Cardinals caught up with NME backstage at Reading 2026, where the Cork indie upstarts told us about progress on the “darker” follow-up to their acclaimed album ‘Masquerade‘.
Lista completa
- READ MORE: Cardinals are indie’s next great storytellers: “Vulnerability might be the only valuable thing when creating art”.
- Charli XCX live at Reading 2026: a stylish, cinematic, but sometimes underwhelming performance.
- Geese live at Reading Festival 2026: an apocalyptic show amid a biblical downpour.
- Dolly Parton, 1946-2026: the Queen of Country was a unifying force in a divided world.
- Loading Leonida: what we learned from the ‘Grand Theft Auto 6’ Extended Look on Netflix.
- For Quiet Light, duality is a fact of life: “Everything is way more connected than we think”.
Watch our full interview interview or read all about it below.
The former NME cover stars and NME 100 alumni made their Reading & Leeds debut at the southern site yesterday (Friday August 28) – a moment not lost of them having been raised on the classic Nirvana ‘Live At Reading’ album and movie.
It’s been a steady ascent for the Cork band. This writer first saw them in a tiny Oslo basement with only a handful of people, before later seeing them smash The Lexington for a crowd of 100 before they owned a support slot at London’s Finsbury Park, playing to 40,000 people with their fellow countrymen Fontaines D.
Brother and frontman Euan Manning agreed: “We like to look at it through the lens of how music has served us. I feel like for a lot of us, that’s more about listening to records and going to intimate shows.
We’re not regulars at festivals or big stadium shows. Maybe there’s a slight touch of that, but I feel like we remind ourselves fairly regularly that the stuff that we like is the stuff that’s a bit more close to the ear.”.
He continued: “At a club show, it’s easier to tell if someone’s tearing up to a song. If someone’s emotional, they can come up to you after and tell you. I think it’s more personal for them and us.”.
We’ve been living with their stellar debut album ‘Masquerade’ for six months now, a record which “very much pinpoints that era of our lives as people and as a band”, said Finn, adding that they’re “looking to the future now for more music.”.
Finn shared: “There’s a romantic idea of bands on the road, sitting in the back of a van with an acoustic guitar and getting time to write. That’s something that never really interested us or worked very well for us.
With such a personal and intimate approach to songwriting, encapsulating the full emotional spectrum, would it be fair to say that Cardinals need to live life a little before they can write.
As well as working on their “production chops” the band shared that they were also looking to expand their sound into some surprise territory.
Cardinals will be touring through Europe, the UK and North America through to the end of the year. Visit here for tickets and more information.
Reading 2026 continues today with performances from Dave, RAYE, Gunna, Radio Free Alice and many more.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Reading & Leeds 2026.
The world's defining voice in music and pop culture: breaking what's new and what's next since 1952.
When you purchase through affiliate links on NME.com, you may contribute to our site through commissions. Learn More.
NME Networks, a part of Caldecott Music Group. All rights reserved.
