Of all the new bands on the scene, Cardinal Black seem to be among those on the verge of a big commercial breakthrough. On this autumn tour, the London venue was at the Shepherds Bush Empire, though I couldn’t make that one with a clash of dates, so for the second time in two weeks it was a trip 30 miles out of town to Reading. Support act was Rosie Frater Taylor, leading a jazz trio with a set of her originals plus a cover of ‘Running Up That Hill’ which divided opinion. They were talented enough musicians but I’m afraid I couldn’t get into the musical style at all.

Coming onto a stage dimly lit throughout the set though decorated with lampshades straight out of the These Wicked Rivers catalogue, Cardinal Black made an oddly low key start, with a couple of new songs in ‘Ride Home’ and ‘Falling’, short by their standards and, in the case of the first, unusually with no guitar solo.

However normal service was swiftly resumed with a series of songs that showed the band at the best. The heartening thing about their rise is that they have done so with a low key and casual stage show without gimmicks, relying instead on sheer quality. Tom Hollister’s vocals are rich, deep and soulful and Chris Buck fully deserves the guitar plaudits he has been receiving, though that is not to diminish the key role played by a sensitive rhythm section in Sam Williams and Adam Roberts, plus a keyboard player, on this occasion Matthew Evans.

‘Ain’t My Time’ featured the first of Chris’s great solos while the way he and backing singer Tay Cousins reinforced Tom’s vocals gave them a gospel feel. ‘Tell Me How It Feels’ had the crowd spontaneously singing along, while ‘Jump In’ boasted a wonderfully insidious repeated guitar pattern from Chris. ‘Morning Light’ was another new song but at eight minutes long was a more typical CB epic, switching tempo every time Chris struck a well placed power chord and then back again.

After ‘Holding My Breath’, ‘Terra Firma’ (from which the title of debut album ‘January Came Close’ is taken ) saw Chris experiment more with pedals and generating psychedelic style feedback. Tom added acoustic guitar on ‘Adeline’, dedicated to his daughter and featuring a falsetto section he joked he needed help with and another inventive solo from Chris. While the latter can make things look effortless, not a note is wasted and his solo on ‘Your Spark (Blows Me to Pieces) solo led to a spontaneous applause.

Many of the songs are slow, yet what could be a subdued occasion is always leavened by Tom’s ever present dry humour. On ‘Warm Love’ he borrowed the phones of two crowd members to film, directed at Chris during another wonderful solo, while the crowd joined in on the ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah’ climax. The main set ended with ‘Where Do You Go’ which to me always has a bit of a west coast feel. It’s also faster and more up tempo than most of the other material and personally I would welcome more of that from them.

Initially it was just Tom and Chris who returned as a duet to play ’Push/Pull’ from the recent ‘Welcome to the Valencia’ EP, then a generous near hour and three quarter set ended with another crowd favourite in the marathon ‘Tied Up In Blue’, with another exquisite guitar solo and Tay singing a section acapella to usher in a lengthy coda.

I’m still not totally sure it’s completely up my alley, but in a short space of time Cardinal Black have developed a unique sound of their own. Their songs are in the main slow and often mellow but arranged to give space to breathe and take their time as they reel you in. Watch the Welsh act rise even further when their sophomore album appears next year.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)