Cardinals share “love song from beyond the grave”, ‘Big Empty Heart’

Cardinals have returned with their new single ‘Big Empty Heart’ and have announced a UK tour for the autumn.

• READ MORE: Cardinals: the Cork indie band set on writing future classics

The Cork five-piece and NME 100 2025 alumni released the one-off single ‘Get It’ last October, the follow-up to their self-titled debut EP in June, and now they are back with ‘Big Empty Heart’, which they have described as “a love song written from beyond the grave”.

Frontman Euan Manning added: “It is a waltz as waltzes are the most romantic kinds of songs. Oskar [Gudinovic, guitarist] wrote the main melody on a Korg synthesiser when he was 12 and the song is built around that.”

The track taps into a gothic, Cure-like mood of introspection and rebellion, with Gudinovic’s guitar straining at the leash. Watch the video here:

Cardinals are set to play their biggest ever show supporting Fontaines D.C. at Finsbury Park on July 5, with Fontaines frontman Grian Chatten having recently described Cardinals as “one of my favourite new bands”. Amyl And The Sniffers, Kneecap, Blondshell and Been Stellar are also on the bill.

They will also be playing with Wunderhorse for two dates in Dublin in August, before heading to the US for a run of shows, including one with The Pogues in Boston. In September, they will play a run of headline UK dates, finishing up in London’s Moth Club on September 30.

UK tickets go on pre-sale at 9am on Wednesday (June 11) before the wider sale begins at 9am on Friday (June 13). You can buy yours here.

Cardinals will play: 

JULY 
5 – Finsbury Park (with Fontaines D.C.) 

AUGUST 
19 – Collins Barracks, Dublin (with Wunderhorse)
20 – Collins Barracks, Dublin (with Wunderhorse)

SEPTEMBER 
7 – The Stage at Suffolk Downs, Boston, MA (with The Pogues)
9 – Horseshoe, Toronto, ON, CA 
11 – Cobra Lounge, Chicago, IL, US 
13 – Rickshaw, San Francisco, CA 
16 – Zebulon, Los Angeles, CA 
22 – Bristol, Strange Brew 
23 – Southampton, Joiners 
25 – Norwich, Waterfront Studio 
26 – Leeds, Belgrave 
27 – Manchester, Yes Pink Room 
29 – Brighton, Patterns 
30 – London, Moth Club 

OCTOBER 
15 – The Curtin, Melbourne 
16 – Metro Social, Sydney

NME spoke to Cardinals ahead of the release of the EP last year about how they feel their sound is developing. “I think you want to be out of your comfort zone as much as you can,” Manning said. “I’d hate to think that we’ve become lax and settled into something. It’s good to have a sound, obviously, but we want to keep pushing forward. There’s a whole spectrum of feeling – and I want to capture that.”

The band were also namechecked by Kneecap in an interview with NME when discussing the best new bands in Ireland at the moment. “For a long time, Ireland has looked elsewhere for inspiration for art and creating music,” the Belfast trio’s Móglaí Bap said.

“Now, we’re looking inwards and giving recognition to the standard of artists we have and what we can provide to the world. You’ve got Fontaines, The Mary Wallopers, Lankum, CMAT, Gurriers, Cardinals – there are so many different genres and things happening.”

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