In fan environments, there’s a familiar phrase that gets thrown around: “We made the right person famous.” Usually a testament to a pop star’s character, it’s often overused – and admittedly a little parasocial – but it’s the phrase that comes to mind as I lounge on a sofa in the record label’s office with Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, better known as CMAT, who’s carving out a distinct space with her wry, campy, country-pop sound.
A few weeks earlier, I saw the 29-year-old in a completely different setting: from the back of a packed amphitheatre at Primavera Sound, where fans spilled out of the pit and climbed grassy embankments just to catch her set. It was the kind of turnout most artists dream of – and one CMAT wasn’t expecting. “I really didn’t know it was a big deal until we played it,” she tells me, with a laugh. “I didn’t even bring a bra on the trip.” That kind of candour is central to CMAT’s appeal – a frankness that also drives her latest album, EURO-COUNTRY, which reckons with both her own and her homeland’s fractured realities
Irish culture has been enjoying a bloom of attention in Western media, from viral “split the G” videos to spice bag reviews and Fontaines D.C. jerseys. But CMAT says much of this is built on a romanticised vision of Ireland, far removed from her own experience. She recalls growing up in a disconnected commuter town with little more than a shopping centre, a place that feels increasingly weathered every time she returns home. “There’s this intense work and art coming out of Ireland right now because people have been struggling quietly for a long time, without really admitting it.”
While EURO-COUNTRY might sound like an optimistic record – full of glitzy production and soaring choruses – it was written through grief, heartbreak and the vertigo of sudden fame. Beneath the shine lies a reckoning with the political hangover of the Celtic Tiger era, whose crash left Ireland with economic instability, mass emigration and a housing crisis that persists today. “There’s a version of Ireland people think about from afar, and then there’s what it actually feels like on the ground.”
Below, we talk to the star about the making of EURO-COUNTRY, her love for Charli xcx, and how “CMAT fans are almost always Irish or lesbian.”
Hey CMAT, I caught you at Primavera – it was so insane! How was the experience for you?
CMAT: That gig was so funny. The energy was unreal – everyone was like, ‘Are you excited for your big gig?’ And I was like, ‘I didn’t even know it was a big deal until we played it.’ I didn’t even bring a bra to Spain! I had a handbag full of clothes because I was trying to bring my stage with me. Then I got on stage and thought, ‘What the fuck have I done? We should’ve got a stylist or something!’ But I loved it. Absolutely insane.
It was my girlfriend’s flatmates who told me to go check out your set. That’s how I got introduced to you.
CMAT: Do they live in Stoke Newington? All CMAT fans are in Stoke Newington. They’re all there, or in Hackney, and they’re all Irish or lesbians.
It’s the CMAT effect. Are you living in London right now?
CMAT: Yeah, I live in Hackney, right next to Hackney Town Hall. I’m going to kiss the steps soon because of Charli xcx’s wedding that happened there – that was the most glam thing I’ve ever seen.
I take it you’re a big Charli xcx fan then?
CMAT: Massive. I worship the ground she walks on. She’s the people’s Princess, my Princess Diana. People always find it funny because my music sounds nothing like hers, but I really admire her. I worship her. She’s inspirational to what I do, but it doesn’t mean I copy her – I just use her as a model to do my own thing. I think as a figurehead in pop culture, she makes you more comfortable as an artist to just work outside the structures laid out by the music industry.
I want to be taken seriously, but I’m not willing to act like a man to do it – CMAT
She’s spoken a lot about being taken seriously in the industry. What’s your experience of that?
CMAT: Yeah, I want to be taken seriously, but I’m not willing to act like a man to do it. I want people to see me as the artist I am – songwriter, producer, all that – but I’m not going to wear a leather jacket and jeans just to fit in. There are so many men making music who aren’t as good as me, yet they’re lauded as geniuses.
If I wear a silly dress, have fun, take the piss out of myself, people call me a novelty act. I think that’s changing this year; people are taking me more seriously now, but it’s taken three albums in four years. Some journalists, especially in America, still don’t get the nuance – I can be fun and make serious music. They see a photo shoot or video and think it’s not for them. It’s annoying, and people should listen. They really should.
It brings to mind this idea that ‘hating pop music doesn’t make you deep’. I think Addison Rae wore it on a t-shirt.
CMAT: Addison Rae. I saw her supporting Lana Del Rey at Wembley, and honestly, it was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. That record is brilliant. She’s an incredible lyricist, and I love that it was made by three girls – writers and producers – taking a real chance. Not some label forcing it, just real people making real music.
I think she’s been completely misinterpreted by the music industry because of how she presented herself and that she came through TikTok. People say she’s cheap or tacky, but every song’s got something. “Headphones On” – fuck, that’s one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. ‘Wish my mom and dad could’ve been in love,’ I should’ve written that line!
An Addison x CMAT collab would be crazy. Who else would you want to work with?
CMAT: Honestly, I’d love to collaborate with Jarvis Cocker. Jeff Tweedy. Tanache Loki, so much. And Lola Young! I love Lola. Every piece of music I’ve heard from her is brilliant, and she’s totally underrated.
Funny story: when “Take a Sexy Picture of Me” came out, all the TikTok comments were like, ‘This is a Lola Young song, she sounds exactly like Lola Young!’ And I was like, no, the only similarity is that we’re just two thick queens and you idiots can’t tell us apart. Honestly, if people thought I sounded like Lola Young, I’d be fine – her music is amazing. She’s class, proper class. But we have completely different accents, from two different countries.
How has your relationship to Dublin changed now that you’re older?
CMAT: I just like looking back and seeing it from the outside, even though I’m still connected to it. I love Joan Didion and I love her writing on California because she talks about the texture of living there, not some romanticised idea. I try to reflect that mentality in my songwriting about Ireland and Dublin. There’s a version of Ireland people think about from afar, and then there’s what it actually feels like on the ground.
Do you think people from other places can relate to that feeling?
CMAT: I think that’s true of every country. Everybody has their own relationship to this, and a lot of countries are going through similar things. Some politicians I mention in my album, like Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, are getting voted back in again in Ireland, the same ones that messed things up 25 years ago. A lot of countries are falling to fascism. I was talking to someone from the Philippines recently, where the son of former dictator Marcos is now in power. A lot of countries are repeating mistakes; it’s madness, but I suppose it’s because people love convenience.
People in the world really hate me for speaking out, I get horrible messages all the time
Alongside tackling political issues in EURO–COUNTRY, you also spoke out about Palestine on stage – what was that moment like?
CMAT: That was… mad. I knew I was going to say something – obviously, I had to. I’d been given the biggest opportunity of my life, and if I didn’t do or say anything, I’d be kicking myself. But I was so scared of that gig in general. I actually wrote a speech, and then, like, an hour beforehand, I was like, ‘I can’t make this speech, I’m going to fuck it up so badly because my nerves are unbelievably bad.’
So I thought, you know what? I’ll just get through the show and say it at the end. I probably would have done something more elaborate if I could, but it’s scary being on stage. It’s not as bad as it is for the Kneecap boys, but it’s terrifying. You’re in front of 60,000 people, and you want to give a speech about something real. People in the world really hate me for speaking out, I get horrible messages all the time. When I played Latitude last year, I had pulled out initially because of Barclays sponsoring, then came back when they dropped them, and in the front row were two guys with massive flags, there specifically to antagonise me. There were 25,000 other people there, and these two were trying to intimidate me.
I think more credit needs to be given to people like Kneecap or anyone who speaks out, because it’s genuinely scary. These people exist, they want to harm you, and you’re just standing there going, ‘Let me run away.’ It’s such a fucking weird time.
What do you want people to take away from the album?
CMAT: If someone listens to the album and doesn’t like it, that’s literally fine, I don’t care, and that’s literally grand. But I hope anyone who’s gone through any of the things I mention in the songs can identify with them and that it helps, in any way, shape or form. That’s the job. That’s the most useful thing. Like, when you write a sad song and someone says, ‘I listened to that the day someone died,’ yeah – that’s the job. So I hope that happens.
EURO-COUNTRY is out August 29
