Cardinals – I Like You
Cork five-piece Cardinals share “I Like You,” the final single before their debut album “Masquerade” drops February 13 via So Young Records. Built around Finn Manning’s accordion and frontman Euan Manning’s unguarded vocals, the track has already become a live favorite.
“This is the first song we wrote with the album in mind,” Euan explains. “After a very long period of not working on anything we started and finished this some bright morning last February in our practice studio. It felt cathartic, a completely grounding moment after feeling slightly lost for months.”
The opening line—”Don’t change your hair for me, if you still care for me”—borrows from jazz standard “My Funny Valentine,” specifically Chet Baker’s version. It’s a soft entry point into a song that shifts gears about a minute in, when distorted guitars and frontal percussion take over, building toward an almost liberating climax.
“Masquerade” was recorded with producer Shrink at RAK Studios in London during summer 2025. The album’s ten tracks swing between violence, cynicism, and bright-eyed vulnerability, with a deliberate A-side/B-side structure that nods to the band’s love of vinyl. The sonic palette pulls from folk’s brittle honesty to goth-rock’s theatrical melodrama.
Cardinals are brothers Euan (guitar, vocals) and Finn Manning (accordion), their cousin Darragh Manning (drums), and schoolmates Oskar Gudinovic (guitar) and Aaron Hurley (bass). After supporting Fontaines D.C. at Finsbury Park, co-headlining the So Young tour with Mên An Tol, and backing NewDad on UK dates, they’ve positioned themselves at the front of Ireland’s indie rock scene.
The band’s music has also appeared in Netflix’s “House of Guinness” and EA Sports’ “Skate” series.
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
Europe
- March 5 – Ulster Sports Club, Belfast, UK
- March 6 – St Luke’s, Cork, Ireland
- March 7 – The Workman’s Club, Dublin, Ireland
- March 10 – The Exchange, Bristol, UK
- March 11 – The Garage, London, UK
- March 13 – Yes (Pink Room), Manchester, UK
- March 14 – The Grove, Newcastle, UK
- March 15 – King Tut’s, Glasgow, UK
North America
- May 7 – Rockwell’s, Somerville, MA
- May 8 – Main Drag, New York, NY
- May 12 – Gold Diggers, Los Angeles, CA
- May 14 – Barboza, Seattle, WA
- May 15-17 – Kilby Block Party, Salt Lake City, UT
