When Richard Bienstock and I first talked about what this column would be, he gave me a wide lane. I could write about gear, or I could write about the parts of this life that don’t normally show up in a guitar magazine. I’ve mostly stayed in the lane. This month I’m taking the shoulder.
The originalStrymon TimeLine always possessed the power and potential to transcend a mere guitar effect. Not long after its release, I got to know a sound guy who used one at every show. I’ve also seen them in synth-filled studios where a lone guitar sat tucked away, almost as an afterthought. To me that says a lot about what the TimeLine achieved in terms of user friendliness, power, and flexibility. Did its ability to work across disciplines make it less potent as a guitar effect? No way. The TimeLine was and is a blast to use for both straightforward guitar delay applications and late-night, down-the-rabbit-hole creative meanderings that birth whole musical pieces.
From Tony Iommi’s 100W handcrafted Laney signature head to ultra-compact modeling amps, wireless freedom, and vintage fuzz recreations, explore November’s standout guitar gear.
Welsh rock trio Cardinal Black have announced their third studio album, Second Sign of Life, arriving January 29, 2027 via Thirty Tigers, alongside the release of its riff-driven lead single, “Saving Grace.”
Photo credit: Mark Hilton
Self-produced during a break in European touring, the record strips back the elaborate arrangements of its predecessor to capture the chemistry that has made Cardinal Black a formidable live act. The album is available to pre-order now as the band announces its biggest UK and Ireland headline tour to date.
“Saving Grace” pairs Chris Buck’s muscular guitar work with Tom Hollister’s soulful vocals and a lyric about the person who brings you back to solid ground when life becomes difficult. Hollister first recorded the song nearly a decade ago but only now found the sound and words that felt true to it.
“The foundations of the song were something I had written and recorded around 10 years ago, but it never felt right—too overworked and stylized,” Hollister explains. “I also never really had lyrics to it that had a real connection to me. This time around with Cardinal Black, it all feels much more coherent. It’s a song about being so close to someone that they’ve become an integral part of you and someone who regularly pulls you back to shore when things get a little rough at sea.” If 2025’s Midnight at the Valencia captured Cardinal Black’s proverbial 10,000 hours, Second Sign of Life captures what happens when they stop counting and trust what those years have taught them.
Photo credit: Mark Hilton
Midnight at the Valencia, recorded at Zurich’s Powerplay Studios with a more expansive production approach, topped the UK Official Independent Album Breakers Chart and helped launch the band’s sold-out debut North American headline tour. Rather than attempt to outdo its scale, Cardinal Black chose fewer layers, greater immediacy, and the sound of musicians playing together in a room.
The opportunity came between dates on a European tour with Alter Bridge. Cardinal Black booked nine days at Hamburg’s residential Clouds Hill Studios in June 2026, effectively living where they recorded. The band arrived after frustrating early writing sessions in Hay-on-Wye and with little time to second-guess decisions, relying instead on the musical instincts sharpened by night after night onstage.
For the first time, Cardinal Black produced and engineered the album themselves, with touring bassist and recording engineer Sam Andrews contributing to the sessions. Despite Clouds Hill’s wealth of vintage equipment, they kept the arrangements focused on the expanded live lineup, allowing only those additions that served the songs.
The result is a 10-song album that turns inward, exploring love, loss, vulnerability, growing older, and the strange isolation of life on the road. Hollister’s personal songwriting is carried by Buck’s expressive guitar and Adam Roberts’ sensitive rhythmic approach, with the space between instruments becoming part of the music.
That restraint reflects the band’s wider independence. Long accustomed to taking a hands-on role in recording, releasing and touring, Cardinal Black have made an album on their own terms, shaped by the direct connection with audiences that remains at the heart of their work.
Cardinal Black return to the road in 2027 with their biggest UK and Ireland headline tour to date, beginning March 30 in Wolverhampton and continuing through London and Cardiff. European dates follow in April and May, with North America planned for June. Fans who pre-order a physical edition through the band’s website can access the UK and Ireland artist presale ahead of the October 21st general on-sale. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit: www.thecardinalblack.com.
Second Sign of Life by Cardinal Black
1. Saving Grace 2. Take Me to The Water 3. All I Ever Wanted 4. Perfect Time 5. Higher 6. I Could Be Anything 7. Neon Lights 8. More Than Your Love 9. Growing Up 10. There Was Everything
CARDINAL BLACK – UK & IRELAND TOUR 2027
Tuesday, March 30th – Wolverhampton, UK – KK's Steel Mill
Thursday, April 1st – Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory
Friday, April 2nd – Belfast, Northern Ireland – Limelight
Saturday, April 3rd – Glasgow, UK – The Garage
Monday, April 5th – Newcastle, UK – Boiler Shop
Tuesday, April 6th – Leeds, UK – Stylus
Friday, April 9th – Manchester, UK – Academy 2
Saturday, April 10th – Southampton, UK – EngineRooms
Live Nation has today announced that U2 is set to hit the road again with Carnaval De Luz presents: The Greatest Show On Earth, a world tour that will see Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. return to select stadiums in 2027 and beyond.
The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour—in support of the band’s forthcoming 16th studio album, Carnaval De Luz—will kick off in Mexico City on February 23rd, 2027 with support from Beck, with shows also announced for São Paulo and Buenos Aires, the only three Latin American cities the tour will visit next year. Additional 2027 dates for Europe and North America are set to be announced in the coming weeks, with plans for the band’s all-important return home to Ireland in the works.
The tour announcement comes with the release of a new track titled “The Greatest Show On Earth.” Co-written by U2 and Brian Eno, it is the third single to be taken from Carnaval De Luz. A story of lovers fighting to keep faith in each other—and faith itself. The video is directed by Anton Corbijn and was shot in the Californian desert; it satirizes the band as a religious cult where women do all the heavy lifting. Watch HERE. Listen HERE .
CARNAVAL DE LUZ PRESENTS: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
WORLD TOUR - 2027 DATES (with support from Beck)
February 23 MEXICO CITY, Mexico - Estadio GNP Seguros
February 26 MEXICO CITY, Mexico - Estadio GNP Seguros
March 10 SÃO PAULO, Brazil - Estádio MorumBIS
March 12 SÃO PAULO, Brazil - Estádio MorumBIS
March 23 BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Estadio River Plate
March 25 BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Estadio River Plate
Acknowledged as one of the best live acts in the world, U2 has always—since their earliest days, including the industry-defining ZOO TV Tour which broke the mold in 1991—consistently pushed the boundaries of live performance, with ground-breaking stage shows that embrace the latest in technology and innovation, most recently with one of the band’s most ambitious creative projects to date, a sold-out run of 40 history-making, future-defining shows at Sphere, Las Vegas. Carnaval De Luz presents: The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour marks U2’s return to a stadium setting for a performance spectacle embracing human connection and intimacy at a grand scale, with a set list drawn from across the band’s entire catalogue; the band’s first stadium dates since wrapping the acclaimed The Joshua Tree Tour at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on December 15th, 2019, the final stop on a tour which saw U2 play to almost 3 million fans around the world.
U2 recently celebrated the band’s 50th anniversary on Friday September 25th with a very special surprise performance on Dublin’s Grafton Street for the town they hold dear. Watch HERE.
Tickets for the Carnaval De Luz presents: The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour will first be available via U2.com Subscriber Presale commencing on Monday October 19th, 2026 at 10am local time. Remaining tickets will be available starting Thursday, October 22nd at 10am local time at U2.com.
Carnaval De Luz presents: The Greatest Show On Earth World Tour is produced by Live Nation Global Touring.
