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.
Gibson has announced four additions to its Original Collection of acoustic guitars, each equipped with the new Gibson-exclusive, custom-voiced Baggs HiFi DNA pickup system.
The J-45 Original, J-45 60s Original Fixed Bridge, Southern Jumbo 40s Original, and Country Western 60s Original are handcrafted at the Gibson Acoustic Craftory in Bozeman, Montana, with premium tonewoods, and period-inspired appointments.
At the heart of the collection is the Gibson-exclusive Baggs HiFi DNA pickup system. Custom-voiced specifically for Gibson acoustic guitars, the active system uses two lightweight sensors mounted to the internal bridge plate, with each sensor paired with its own preamp. The result is a rich, natural amplified sound that captures the warmth, dynamic range, and subtle details of the guitar without affecting its unplugged voice.
The system offers feedback resistance and gain-before-feedback comparable to an under-saddle pickup, making it equally suited to recording sessions, intimate performances, and large stages. Discrete soundhole-mounted volume and tone controls provide convenient access to essential adjustments while remaining virtually hidden from the audience.
All four models share the traditional construction methods that have helped Gibson acoustic guitars earn the trust of generations of musicians. Each instrument features a solid Sitka spruce top, a dovetail neck joint secured with hot hide glue, a rosewood fretboard and bridge, and performance-oriented components, including a bone nut and bone saddle. Together, these elements promote resonance, tonal transfer, dependable performance, and a responsive feel that connects the player directly to the instrument.
Known as “The Workhorse,” the J-45 has earned a reputation as one of the most trusted and widely recorded acoustic guitars ever made. The new J-45 Original returns to the model’s Jumbo roots with distinctive 30s Jumbo-inspired appointments while preserving the iconic round-shoulder dreadnought body and the classic combination of mahogany back and sides with a solid Sitka spruce top.
The J-45 Original features a mahogany neck with a fast, comfortable SlimTaper profile and a rosewood fretboard with 20 standard frets and mother-of-pearl dot inlays. A mother-of-pearl Gibson script logo, nickel-plated Grover open-back tuners, and a bone nut complete the headstock. A rectangular, closed-slot, flat-top rosewood bridge, TUSQ bridge pins, and a firestripe pickguard reinforce the guitar’s vintage-inspired character. Offered in Autumn Burst and Vintage Sunburst gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finishes, the J-45 Original includes a Gibson hardshell case.
The J-45 60s Original Fixed Bridge carries the Workhorse legacy forward with distinctive 60s-era styling and a fixed belly-up bridge designed for tuning stability, dependable performance, and reduced long-term upkeep. Its round-shoulder dreadnought body is constructed with mahogany back and sides and a solid Sitka spruce top, delivering the warm, woody, and balanced voice that has defined the J-45 since its introduction in 1942.
A 24.75-inch-scale mahogany neck with a comfortable Round profile joins the body using a dovetail joint and hot hide glue. The rosewood fretboard features 20 standard frets and mother-of-pearl dot inlays. Grover strap tuners with white buttons, a gold Gibson logo decal, a bone nut and saddle, and TUSQ bridge pins complete the instrument’s performance-oriented appointments.
The J-45 60s Original Fixed Bridge is available in Vintage Sunburst with a tortoise pickguard and Vintage Cherry Sunburst with a white pickguard. Both finishes are applied in gloss nitrocellulose lacquer, and each guitar includes a Gibson hardshell case.
First introduced in 1942 as part of Gibson’s celebrated wartime banner model lineup, the Southern Jumbo became the company’s flagship round-shoulder flat-top. The Southern Jumbo 40s Original honors that heritage while incorporating carefully considered modern refinements and the Gibson-exclusive Baggs HiFi DNA pickup system.
The Southern Jumbo 40s Original pairs solid rosewood back and sides with a solid Sitka spruce top, producing deep lows, sparkling highs, expansive projection, and a touch-sensitive response. Multi-ply binding on the top and back gives the guitar an elevated visual presentation that complements its rich tonal character.
Its mahogany neck features a comfortable SlimTaper profile designed for effortless chord work and fluid flatpicking. The rosewood fretboard is fitted with 20 standard frets and mother-of-pearl split parallelogram inlays. Nickel-plated Grover open-back tuners, a bone nut, and a vintage-inspired gold Gibson script logo decal complete the headstock. A closed-slot, belly-down rosewood bridge features two mother-of-pearl dot inlays, a bone saddle, and TUSQ bridge pins, while a tortoise-colored teardrop pickguard completes the classic aesthetic. The Southern Jumbo 40s Original is offered in a Vintage Sunburst gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finish and includes a Gibson hardshell case.
Returning to the core Gibson Acoustic lineup in response to player demand, the Country Western 60s Original revives one of the most celebrated versions of this historic design. Its mahogany back and sides and solid Sitka spruce top produce a rich, lively, and exceptionally balanced voice across the bass, midrange, and treble frequencies.
That versatility allows the Country Western 60s Original to move naturally between country rhythm work, rock ’n’ roll single-note leads, intricate fingerstyle passages, songwriting sessions, studio recording, and live performance. The guitar is designed to respond to a wide variety of techniques while retaining the warmth and character associated with a classic Gibson acoustic.
The 24.75-inch-scale mahogany neck features a comfortable Round profile and joins the body with a compound dovetail joint secured using hot hide glue. Its rosewood fretboard has a 12-inch radius, 20 standard frets, and mother-of-pearl split parallelogram inlays. Sealed-back Gotoh tuning machines with white buttons, a bone nut, and a mother-of-pearl Gibson logo and crown provide refined styling and dependable performance.
At the body, a rosewood belly-up bridge is fitted with a bone saddle and TUSQ bridge pins. A tortoise-colored pickguard without graphics provides a clean, classic finishing detail. The Country Western 60s Original is available in Natural and Vintage Sunburst gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finishes and includes a Gibson hardshell case.
Street prices for each of the models:
Gibson J-45 60s Original with HiFi DNA, Fixed Bridge, available in Vintage Sunburst or Vintage Cherry Sunburst finish: $3,199
Gibson J-45 Original with HiFi DNA, available in Vintage Sunburst or Autumn Burst: $3,299
Gibson Country Western 60s Original with HiFi DNA, in Antique Natural finish: $3,999
Gibson Southern Jumbo 40s Original with HiFi DNA, in Vintage Sunburst finish: $3,999
Gibson has announced four additions to its Original Collection of acoustic guitars, each equipped with the new Gibson-exclusive, custom-voiced Baggs HiFi DNA pickup system.
PG’s Chris Kies dropped in on Geese’s pre-tour rehearsals at Rock Nashville, where the band was building out its largest stage production to date ahead of a run that opens at the Ryman. Guitarist Emily Green and bassist Dominic DiGesu walked through rigs that have gotten smaller as the band has gotten bigger. Have a look at some quick highlights below, and tune into the new Rig Rundown for all the details.
There’s been a subtle yet welcome return to one of my favorite corners of recording technology: the rack effects of the late ‘70s through the late ‘90s. Units made by Yamaha, T.C. Electronic, Lexicon, and Eventide, which were all once everywhere, spent far too many years relegated to the spandex audio detention hall and largely forgotten about. Now these vintage boxes are finding their way back into studios (they certainly are in mine). And for good reason.