CMAT – EURO-COUNTRY
CMAT is at the peak of her powers on glorious new album EURO-COUNTRY
Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson’s singular brand of fun and heartfelt emotion glows brighter with every new song she pens. The Irish country-pop heroine’s rise to fame has come incredibly quickly, having released her debut album only three years ago. For some, the pressure can become too much to handle. But for CMAT, on album three Euro-Country, she masters her endearing brand of wide-eyed drama and self-depreciation.
Opening with swells of ocean waves and an Irish spoken passage, she reckons with her Irish identity across Euro-Country, particularly on its title track. Its anthemic choruses are laced with melancholy. CMAT references how she, and many of Ireland’s young people today, have lived with the economic collapse of the Celtic Tiger, forcing many to emigrate due to a lack of opportunity. This latter point is explored further on Ready, highlighting CMAT’s own fractured relationship with home and the shared feelings of many other Irish people.
The attention that’s come with CMAT’s newfound fame is explored on Take a Sexy Picture of Me. Written after toxic comments she received on Instagram following a BBC live performance, the song tackling body-shaming is the album’s most prolific blend of fun and sadness, as well as being its most viral track with the fan-created ‘woke macarena’ dance. Running/Planning is another stand-out that’s borne out of rumination, while The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’s catchy chorus lines and meta-lyrics of 'making no sense to the average listener' gives further glimpses into CMAT’s burgeoning confidence as a songwriter. There’s also tasteful nods to her country roots in Tree Six Foive and When a Good Man Cries.
Grief also permeates, particularly on Lord, Let That Tesla Crash, written by CMAT in tribute to her friend and collaborator who died suddenly while the album was in progress, shifting her outlook towards a more emotionally mature tone of writing in the process: 'I don’t miss you like I should / But I’d kill myself to find out if you think this song is good'.
Euro-Country’s thematic depth is incredibly impressive. Its flair easily distances itself from her previous two albums. But what pushes it further is the talent of an artist who has evidently dug deep to make the best record of their career. Vocally, lyrically, creatively, CMAT has never sounded better. In truth, you’d be hard pushed to find another record like this one.
Listen to: Take a Sexy Picture of Me, Lord, Let That Tesla Crash