PHOTOGRAPHY Melanie Lehman
CREATIVE DIRECTION & PRODUCTION Tori West
WORDS & PRODUCTION Chiara Maculan
STYLING Baillie Jones
MUA Abby Roberts
HAIR Vodka
HAIR ASSISTANT Rolands Sabulis
FASHION ASSISTANT Odera Phil-Ebosie
IMAGE RETOUCHING John Randall
SPECIAL THANKS Overheard PR
COVER IMAGE CMAT wears top, shorts & shoes: BIMBA Y LOLA, tights: WOLFORD, necklace: STYLISTS OWN
It’s the Monday morning after London’s All Points East festival and I’m still breathing out traces of Victoria Park’s infamous dust as I read over my interview with CMAT. I suspect I inhaled most of it during the Irish artist’s set, specifically when she asked the crowd to two-step along with her during ‘I Wanna Be a Cowboy, Baby!’. Within seconds, thousands of stomping feet turned the park into a dust bowl. The air was so thick you could barely see, prompting many in the crowd to don sunglasses and scarves as makeshift shields against the swirling dirt – but even the oncoming choking hazard couldn’t stop us from dancing. It was a riotous and euphoric display, and made for the perfect introduction to CMAT herself: witty, refreshingly untamed, and absolutely committed to making pop music something you have to live through, not just listen to.
As we discuss spectacular stage endeavours, she giggles about her dream of having a ‘P!nk moment’ for one of her shows – referencing the American musician’s penchant for high-wire performances. “You know what’s funny? I actually priced this up for my show in the 3Arena in Dublin in December,” she tells me. “In order for me to get on a wire and fly over the entire 3Arena for the song ‘Stay For Something,’ I would have had to pay €50,000 and do two days of health and safety training in County Wicklow at an aerial training centre, so if anyone wants to donate 50 grand to me for the purpose of me living my dreams for a 30-second bit, let me know.”
Born Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson in Dublin, CMAT first emerged onto the music scene five years ago, and in that short time has become one of the most talked-about songwriters in pop. Her debut, If My Wife New I’d Be Dead, won the Choice Music Prize, and she’s since earned a Brit Award nomination, an Ivor Novello nod, and a Mercury Prize shortlist. Yet it’s not just accolades that define her – it’s the way she fuses humour, heartbreak, and sharp cultural observation into songs that feel alive and unfiltered.
Her third offering, EURO-COUNTRY, continues that approach while introducing a palpable tonal shift and pushing into new creative territory. Steeped in the melodic and structural tradition of 1970s country – think: Glen Campbell, Charley Pride, and Tammy Wynette – the record is unmistakably CMAT, blending pop sensibilities with narrative storytelling that is deeply personal, vividly Irish, and sometimes delightfully absurd. From indie-infused tracks like ‘Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’ to the soulful affirmations of ‘Ready,’ the album moves effortlessly between melancholy, satire, and celebratory chaos, reflecting both the highs and lows of Thompson’s own journey.
Each song showcases her ability to harness the essence and narrative power of the genre, weaving evocative storytelling into compelling melodies. “Instead of me telling you how I feel, I am going to show you how I feel,” she explains. “Instead of saying, ‘I am sad because the world is bad,’ I’m more like, ‘I grew up in Blanchardstown, there was a shopping centre there, and it had a fountain in it.’ That’s the most country thing about the album.”
Instead of saying, ‘I am sad because the world is bad,’ I’m more like, ‘I grew up in Blanchardstown, there was a shopping center there, and it had a fountain in it.’ That’s the most country thing about the album.
Throughout the project, she explores weighty themes, from re-examining her geographical and metaphorical roots and reflecting on the economic forces shaping her native island in pedal-steel and percussion-heavy tune ‘EURO-COUNTRY’, to navigating the pressures of rising fame and of being a woman in the music industry via jazzy lyrical masterpiece ‘Janis Joplining’.
Thompson thinks of herself more as a songwriter than a musician, and her approach to writing EURO-COUNTRY was accordingly immersive and profoundly honest. “I remember very distinctly listening to the entire audiobook of Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy. There was a two-week period where I was alone in the house by myself, just writing, and every time I needed a break, I did housework and listened to it. It’s like a comfort book.” Homesick in New York, she leaned into the work of Irish women authors like Marian Keyes and Sally Rooney, and even found inspiration in cult New York writer Cookie Mueller’s diaries. “Irish women who write books seem to not be able to write anything under 600 words,” she laughs.
The making of the music itself was equally meticulous, but it also tested the songwriter’s forbearance. “I had a completely different idea for a long time, and then I switched it at the last minute to this Euro-Country thing,” she recounts. “I wrote a lot of really ambitious music, and then I brought the songs to my producer, and we realized how much work it would take to pull off recording these pop or country-pop songs. It was mental.” For ‘Tree Six Foive’, she recorded six completely different versions before settling on the final cut – a process that tested her patience, and that of her fellow producer Oli Deakin’s. “As stressful as it was for me, it was ten million times more stressful for my producer. Hats off to him. He is a saint.”
The first thing I’ve learned is that touring seems to be a lot more physically difficult for women than for men. There is a lot of lifting and a lot is expected of you, and the whole system has been set up for fully able-bodied men. Anyone who fits outside of that is going to struggle.
Dress: PEACHY DEN, Necklace: SUSAN FANG X & OTHER STORIES, clips: STYLISTS OWN
Thompson is a seasoned touring professional: she’s just supported Sam Fender on his European tour, graced the stages of Primavera Sound Festival, and made her Glastonbury debut, among her other previous adventures on the road. “The first thing I’ve learned is that touring seems to be a lot more physically difficult for women than for men,” she points out.
Despite her experience, the 29 year-old musician has been reckoning with this lack of accessibility, especially following her PCOS and endometriosis diagnoses. Indeed, the world of tour buses and daily performances is yet another field where women’s health needs don’t appear on the list of priorities: “there is a lot of lifting and a lot is expected of you, and the whole system has been set up for fully able-bodied men. Anyone who fits outside of that is going to struggle.”
The heightened visibility that comes with success has also meant increased scrutiny, especially online. The backlash has been so extreme that in May 2024, the BBC disabled Instagram comments on a video of CMAT’s performance at the Radio 1 Big Weekend festival, following a spate of fat-shaming comments. “This past year has been quite difficult, because the increased exposure literally means that day to day, more people on the internet want to call me fat and tell me I am ugly and bad looking,” she shares. “I get the same comment over and over again – bring back attractive pop stars, or remember when pop stars used to be attractive. Obviously that affects me, because it’s horrible.”
I cannot stress this enough: if you do not like yourself, get off your phone for two days. You will be fine. Go to the cinema, see some films, maybe go to the pub. I love the pub. Even if you are sober, non-alcoholic options are wonderful. Come on Lucky Saint!
In the last year, the language of online trolling has echoed older, regressive ideas about beauty and worth, exposing how fragile progress can be, and how female artists are made to carry the weight of those shifting standards. The viral success of her reclamation anthem, ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’, reflects this wider cultural shift, infectiously highlighting the unreachable standards that women are nonsensically measured against. As conversations around body positivity lose ground to a resurgence of conservative values, making way for increasing misogyny and fatphobia, CMAT satirises the infantilising male gaze, singing: “And make me look 14, oh / Or like ten, or like five / Or like two, like a baby / Whoever it is that you’re gonna love / So you’ll be nice to me.”
To cope, she took a practical step and deleted her Instagram off her phone. “That is truly the way to tackle it, because then you live in the real world, and there, everybody’s notions of what is attractive vary from person to person,” she continues. “I cannot stress this enough: if you do not like yourself, get off your phone for two days. You will be fine. Go to the cinema, see some films, maybe go to the pub. I love the pub. Even if you are sober, non-alcoholic options are wonderful. Come on Lucky Saint!”
However, Thompson points out that the inequality women face in the entertainment industry goes beyond the noise of social media – it’s rooted in the deeper structures of the music industry itself, which often allows male artists room to be abrasive or disagreeable, while women rarely receive the same leeway. “If I could redesign how women are seen in music, it would be very hard, because you would have to redesign the shape of the world,” she emphasises.
The problem with music is that men who make music can be unlikable… If a woman has a personality like that, she will not have a career. Or she will get one, then reveal a personality that isn’t very people-pleasing, and people will want her to fucking die.
Top: GAYEON LEE, skirt: STYLISTS OWN,
tights: WOLFORD, Titanic bag: TIMMY WOODS
“The problem with music is that men who make music can be unlikable. They can have uninteresting, not very appealing, or loud personalities, and they still have a certain level of goodwill shown toward them. If a woman has a personality like that, she will not have a career. Or she will get one, then reveal a personality that isn’t very people-pleasing, and people will want her to fucking die,” the artist continues. “The tone of music media and songwriting and fan bases is immediate skepticism, until proven otherwise.”
At this stage in her career, Thompson is just as interested in questions of identity as she is in melody. She treats her music as a mirror, reflecting back the anxieties and joys of her own life while also raising larger concerns about what it means to live authentically in public. Fame has intensified this self-discovery. “Something that has occurred to me this year is that when you have this job, everything is about you all the time,” she reflects. “Whenever I meet friends who have nothing to do with the business, they usually ask what I have been up to, because I have the most exciting life with the most happening. That is normal and kind, but the overall texture of that life makes you a bit crazy.”
One of the ways she recentres herself and counters the more disorienting aspects of public life is by throwing her energy into activism wherever she can, including raising awareness on Trans+ rights, and demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza and for a free Palestine. “It is a bit selfish in a way because it’s a fast way of taking a lot of weight off myself spiritually,” she admits. “But it makes me feel like the job has benefits outside of me, which is what we want as humans. We want to benefit people other than ourselves, and I don’t think it’s normal to demand constant self-growth and self-promotion all the time.”
In a year, we’re going to see all the really big pop stars who have stayed completely fucking silent changing their tune, and that won’t be coming from a place of community work or selflessness. It will just be them trying to cover their own asses, and I am not interested in it.
Her perspective on celebrity also comes with a clear-eyed critique of the culture of silence around social issues, and the responsibility – overlooked by many – that comes with a large platform and mainstream popularity. “It’s easy for me to protest or speak out. It’s more difficult for people who are working 50 hours a week at a service job to make ends meet,” she points out. “In a year, we’re going to see all the really big pop stars who have stayed completely fucking silent changing their tune, and that won’t be coming from a place of community work or selflessness. It will just be them trying to cover their own asses, and I am not interested in it.”
Thompson has continuously proven herself unafraid of voicing her political opinions in her music and on stage, and has been particularly critical of the rise of conservative, far-right sentiment in Ireland. This was particularly notable after poorly edited clips from a speech she gave at All Together Now festival were shared on a far-right blog that misrepresented her words, suggesting she was anti-immigration. “I am not their fucking poster child. I hate those cunts,” she affirms. “They don’t see that they are the problem with the country, not people who are trying to move in and make a life and a community for themselves there, and allowing multiculturalism to flourish in the way it should.”
Titular track ‘EURO-COUNTRY’ is a testament to Thompson’s powerful ability to speak to systemic struggles lyrically, as she delves into the Celtic Tiger years, a period of rapid economic growth, and the 2008 economic crash that led to a mass exodus of young people from Ireland and other European countries in search for opportunities they couldn’t encounter in their quiet provincial hometowns.
I disagree with people using my song to say that Ireland is amazing and we have been fucked over. The point of the song is that we fucked ourselves over and continue to do so. If anything, I am just sorry that it was not clear enough in the first place. I should have spelled it out for you: I hate you bitches.
BANNER IMAGE: Swimsuit: ARODAZI, tights: PUCCI, shoes: BIMBA Y LOLA, necklace: STYLISTS OWN
For the songstress, this phenomenon is what also allowed for the poorest and oldest in the country to be radicalised by the internet and the far-right. “I disagree with people using my song to say that Ireland is amazing and we have been fucked over,” she clarifies, further distancing herself from conservative forces. “The point of the song is that we fucked ourselves over and continue to do so. If anything, I am just sorry that it was not clear enough in the first place. I should have spelled it out for you: I hate you bitches.”
In all, CMAT emerges as a rare and disarmingly compelling voice in today’s music landscape, equally at ease slipping punchy political observations and cultural critique into buoyant melodies, as she is with heartbreak and wry humour in her songwriting. EURO-COUNTRY cements this duality: it’s an ambitious but flawlessly executed leap uniting sharp commentary on capitalism, national identity, grief, fame, and beauty standards with emotional resonance, captivating hooks, and her signature comedic flair.
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