Cardinals - Barbed Wire - stereobar.net

Q4 W48 New Music 2025

Cardinals – Barbed Wire

Cork five-piece Cardinals release “Barbed Wire”, the fourth single from their debut album “Masquerade”, out February 13, 2026 on So Young Records. The track offers a gothic reimagining of their hometown, inspired by the city’s history and the prison that once stood on South Gate Bridge.

Frontman Euan Manning describes trying to create images of silhouetted city walls and security fences. Kevin Barry’s novel “City of Bohane” served as another inspiration for this dark vision of Cork. Musically, “Barbed Wire” highlights Cardinals’ use of accordion, which sets them apart from other indie rock bands. The accordion lends a drunken goth-folk effect to what’s otherwise a catchy, indie rock song with spiky guitars.

Lyrically, the chorus paints a vivid picture: love and longing mixed with alcohol and ecstasy, against a backdrop of barbed wire fences and city walls.

“Masquerade” was recorded with producer Shrink at RAK Studios in London over the summer. The ten-song collection shifts from the brittle honesty of folk to the theatrical melodrama of goth-rock, with a clear A-side and B-side structure. Manning describes the album as peeling back 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.”

Formed by brothers Euan and Finn Manning, their cousin Darragh, and school friends Oskar Gudinovic and Aaron Hurley, Cardinals have already supported Fontaines D.C., Wunderhorse, NewDad, and The Pogues.