Interview: Irish Country-Pop CMAT Talks 'Crazymad, For Me' and Upcoming Tour

By Eli Gillespie

Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson from Dublin, better known as CMAT, broke out in the UK music scene after her debut album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead released in 2022. The 27-year-old Ireland native topped the charts in her home country and earned several other accolades, including the Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year. Heralded as “the greatest popstar on the planet,” CMAT recently opened for Wet Leg at London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall, supported Florence + the Machine, and played  at The Woodsies stage at Glastonbury earlier this summer. She will also be playing with First Aid Kit later in the summer.

The anticipated follow-up, a 12-track album entitled Crazymad, For Me, was announced alongside the album’s second catchy single “Have Fun!,” premiering as the Hottest Record in the World on BBC Radio 1. It’s a sage-burning, fiddle-toting summer smash that’s as much about green parakeets fluttering around London as it is about firmly shutting the door on an era-defining relationship.  While the typical breakup sounds come through the album, it’s also a concept record of sorts involving time travel, Belle Epoque Paris, and a woman who may or may not be CMAT in the future.

Her new album will drop on October 13 via AWAL Recordings. CMAT sat down with us to discuss the album, her creative process, and her upcoming tour. 

Eli: What would you say is the main theme of Crazymad, For Me?

CMAT: It’s an abstract break-up album - about what happens when you are still angry about something that happened 10 years ago

Eli: Can you tell me what your new single “Have Fun!” is all about?

CMAT: This is a song about ring necked parakeets that are wild in London, but it is also a song about getting over a breakup and moving on from an emotional stalemate even when you don’t, or can’t, forgive the other person’s actions. I suppose it is a song about how things in life are never satisfying, and don’t make sense, but they exist anyway and we have to make the best of it. And have fun!

Eli: The video for the “Have Fun!” was shot in Paris and Dublin, correct?

CMAT: I did two days in gay Paree with a wonderful motley crew of amazing locals who transported me back to la belle epoque so convincingly I was ready to storm the Bastille by the time it was done. The video for "Have Fun!" sort of encompasses the whole big wide overarching “theory” behind the album, actually.

Eli: Your last album was released in February of last year, which means this is a quick turnaround from your first album to the second. What was the timeline like in terms of recording this album?

CMAT: There were a lot of songs from the first record that I liked but were left off because they didn’t fit. When it came to putting the second record together, I wanted to take some of the songs I had for a long time, rework them, and give them the time of day they deserve because they deserve to be heard and released. We also added at least fifty percent new songs to show my developing perspective. That’s why the album came so quickly - I was already working on the second when I was doing the first record. However, I did it with two different producers to develop the sound differently. I also took a solid year off after the first album to co-write and tour. I am really glad that I took the year-long writing and development break to do something more interesting, and I think I did. It seems like a quick turnaround, but I always have stuff I’m working on because I have so many songs. I’m already working on the third album.”

Eli: From a sonic perspective, how would you describe the new album compared to your previous works? 

CMAT: On the first record, I really wanted to establish myself as someone that made country pop. On this record, I wanted to incorporate my country references in a distinctly different way. On the first record, I took a lot from the 1970s, specifically Glenn Campbell and other golden-age 70s country music. When I got to this record, I looked at people that were a bit more weird, like Roseanne Cash, and others that blended country with synth and more rhythmically interesting things. My first album was a bit maximalist, but for this album, I wanted a reduced sonic palette while also making it a lot more rhythmically complex. 

Eli: You announced a tour supporting this album that kicks off in November. When recording an album, do you try to make songs you think you will enjoy performing live, and are there any songs on the album that you are excited to perform? 

CMAT: The first time around, I wasn’t thinking about live performance because it wasn’t something I had done before. I hadn’t played with a band until the beginning of 2022. This record, I definitely took it into account, but I didn’t want to do anything specific to the recordings to amp them up for the shows. Some songs are gonna fucking bang. There is one song called “Say for Something” that is very loud and pumping, and everyone that’s heard it loves it. That’s the one that will probably be the best one live. “Have Fun” is also really fun live, we put a dance break in it, keeping all the girls happy.