Cardinal Black - Midnight at The Valencia [CD + OUTSTORE TICKET] (CD)

Welsh trio Cardinal Black - Tom Hollister, Chris Buck and Adam Roberts - release new album Midnight at The Valencia.

The road to success has been anything but conventional. Their story began in 2010 when they were tipped by Steve Winwood, who invited them to record at his own Wincraft Studios. A triumphant Sonisphere set led to the offer of a U.S. record deal and a collaboration with Guns N' Roses manager Alan Niven. Reality didn't match expectations, and the band went their separate ways before ever releasing an album.

In the decade that followed, their paths diverged but never truly separated. Buck's distinctive guitar playing earned him numerous accolades and praise from some of the most distinguished players in Slash, Joe Satriani and Jason Isbell. The band remained close, reuniting sporadically to play together until, in February 2020, they decided to reform.

Nearly two years of writing, recording and rehearsing provided solid foundations, and within 24 hours of their debut single being released in May 2021, it toppled Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds from the top of the iTunes and Amazon Rock Charts. Both their first EP and subsequent debut album also reached #1, and the band soon found themselves recording in Abbey Road's legendary Studio Two.

Cardinal Black may have taken the scenic route, but they have well and truly arrived - bringing with them a wealth of stories and electrifying performances. The trio continue to prove that sometimes, the wait is well and truly worth it.

The Valencia is the physical manifestation of their "ten thousand hours," representing every backwater dive-bar and neon-soaked club they've walked into and played together as friends.

A lot has happened in the miles and years they've covered together. Midnight at The Valencia is an honest account of some of the highs and lows they encountered and the stories they found along the way: Ride Home unfolds a portrait of a boy they watched going off to war, only to see him return later a man; Adeline is a melancholy love letter from a father to his daughter; Morning Light follows a family man as he tries to rebuild his life after a divorce; Breathe chronicles a tryst between illicit lovers fighting to slip the stranglehold of failing relationships; Push/Pull is that plaintive rite of passage through loss and grief we all have to navigate; Keep on Running is a cautionary tale of a friend's brush with the unsolicited attentions of a stalker; and if Holding My Breath is a confession to a partner of feeling trapped in a relationship, Your Spark is the counterpoint finale: a thank you from one of the band to his wife.

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1. Ride Home
2. Falling
3. Racing Cars
4. Breathe
5. Keep On Running
6. Morning Light
7. Holding My Breath
8. Push/Pull
9. Adeline
10. Need More Time
11. Your Spark (Blows Me to Pieces)