CMAT – If My Wife New I'd Be Dead
On her near-perfect debut, CMAT proves she's a pop tour de force who knows exactly who she wants to be and has all the talent to deliver it
On If My Wife New I’d Be Dead, 25-year-old Irish singer-songwriter, pop star and all-round hook machine CMAT has delivered a near-perfect debut album. A delicious combination of yearning, soaring melodies and hilarious lyrics. A selection box of influences shine through in her look as much as her sound. The result lands somewhere heartfelt, hyper-feminine and distinctly CMAT. Shades of Dolly Parton, Katy Perry and Lana Del Rey are on display here. As she sings on the album’s opener Nashville: 'I look and feel like Anna-Nicole, and that’s all I ever wanted'.
Her electro past (she performed in the duo Bad Sea) can be felt on relatable lovelorn synth-groove No More Virgos. Country-inflected ballad Lonely is equal parts sad and silly, with CMAT asking questions no artist has braved before: 'Who needs God, when I’ve got Robbie Williams?'
Her voice has rarely sounded purer than it does on album closer I’d Want U. This stripped-back lilting ballad is such a pitch-perfect country classic, it practically feels like showing off. And why not? CMAT is a pop tour de force who knows exactly who she wants to be and has all the talent to deliver it.
Listen to: I Don’t Really Care For You, No More Virgos, 2 Wrecked 2 Care