Cardinal Black, the Welsh trio consisting of Tom Hollister, Chris Buck, and Adam Roberts, have released their new album Midnight at The Valencia. The road to success for the band 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 a U.S. record deal offer and a collaboration with Guns N’ Roses manager Alan Niven. However, 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 such as Slash, Joe Satriani, and Jason Isbell.
In February 2020, the band decided to reform. Nearly two years of writing, recording, and rehearsing provided solid foundations, leading to the release of their debut single in May 2021, which quickly rose to the top of the iTunes and Amazon Rock Charts. Their first EP and subsequent debut album also reached number 1, with the band recording in Abbey Road’s legendary Studio Two.
Midnight at The Valencia is the physical manifestation of their ‘ten thousand hours’, representing every backwater dive-bar and neon-soaked club they’ve played together as friends. The album is an honest account of the highs and lows they encountered and the stories they found along the way.
Each song on the album tells a unique story - ‘Ride Home’ portrays a boy going off to war and returning a man, ‘Adeline’ is a melancholy love letter from a father to his daughter, ‘Morning Light’ follows a family man rebuilding his life after a divorce, ‘Breathe’ chronicles a tryst between illicit lovers, ‘Push/Pull’ navigates through loss and grief, ‘Keep on Running’ warns of unsolicited attention, and ‘Holding my Breath’ confesses feeling trapped in a relationship while ‘Your Spark’ is a thank you from one band member to his wife.
