Cardinal Black Announce Their Biggest UK and Ireland Tour Alongside Second Sign of Life
Cardinal Black’s next UK and Ireland headline run will finish with consecutive nights at London’s KOKO and Cardiff’s Great Hall. Those April 2027 shows conclude the band’s biggest tour of the region to date, following a third studio album shaped by the experience of performing together.
The record, Second Sign of Life, arrives January 29, 2027 through Thirty Tigers. Lead single “Saving Grace” is out now, pairing Chris Buck’s muscular guitar work with Tom Hollister’s soulful vocals in a riff-driven song about the person who helps bring life back onto steady ground.
The tour begins March 30 at KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton before travelling to Dublin and Belfast. Glasgow, Newcastle and Leeds follow, with Manchester, Southampton, Exeter, Bristol and Cambridge completing the route ahead of the London and Cardiff dates. European dates are set to follow in April and May, while North America is planned for June.
The scale of the itinerary follows a strong response to the band’s first U.S. headline tour in 2025. Multiple dates sold out before Cardinal Black arrived, and a New York show moved from Mercury Lounge to Gramercy Theatre after selling out in under 24 hours. Their second album, Midnight at the Valencia, also topped the UK Official Independent Album Breakers Chart.
For the new record, the trio drew on that live experience while choosing a less elaborate production approach. Hollister, Buck and drummer Adam Roberts recorded at Clouds Hill Studios in Hamburg during nine days between European shows with Alter Bridge in June 2026. They produced and engineered the album themselves, with touring bassist and recording engineer Sam Andrews contributing.
“Saving Grace” makes a particularly relevant introduction to that process. Hollister had first recorded the song around ten years earlier but felt it was overworked and lacked lyrics with a real personal connection. Revisiting it with Cardinal Black brought greater coherence, aligning its subject with an approach that favours directness.
The album’s ten songs explore love, loss, vulnerability, ageing and the isolation of touring, bringing private concerns into a release closely connected to the band’s public life. Fans who pre-order a physical edition through the official website can access the UK and Ireland artist presale ahead of the October 21 general on-sale. The site also carries further ticket and release information.
