Album Review: EURO-COUNTRY by CMAT

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.

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The Irish one-off’s third album has all the camp and charm we've come to expect. It places her in a world that is entirely her own There's nothing remotely understated about Euro-Country, the dazzling third album from Ireland's pop sensation CMAT. With a gloriously maximalist sound and vocals that somehow exceed already sky-high expectations – amplified further by TikTok-fuelled fame – Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson delivers another triumph.

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Her vocals drift and glide around a devastatingly beautiful melody, lifting into delicate falsetto towards the end of each line. The title track functions as a kind of overture, succinctly encapsulating the record's central themes: the spectres of loss, isolation, and capitalism's lonely trail are never more than a couple of lines away. The decision to briefly return to Irish could be read in a number of ways, but it feels significant - as if Thompson is employing it as a tribute to her heritage while deliberately obscuring meaning, simultaneously masking her pain and disillusionment.

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If her scene-stealing Glasto set or very own viral dance - the so-called 'woke Macarena' - weren't enough to convince you that 2025 truly is the summer of CMAT, then let this third full-length be a definitive answer: 'EURO-COUNTRY' is the album that will see Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson make the leap from cult country-pop favourite to bona fide star. From its cover artwork to its tracklist (which boasts such choice cuts as 'Tree Six Foive' and 'Coronation St.'), to the songs themselves, every element is knowingly referential, cheekily self-aware, and impeccably judged, incorporating all the language - musical, visual, thematic - established by her first two albums into a fluent thesis on national identity, fame, and womanhood. .

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This is CMAT's moment. Already colossal in her native Ireland, UK audiences have proved slightly more stubborn in falling for Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson. A slew of phenomenal festival appearances have swept away all resistance - with radiant cowboy boots, endless charm, and a super sexy band, CMAT has proved to be irresistible. The impeccable, beautifully assured 'Euro-Country' will surely become one of the year's most impactful records - the right songs, the right production, and the right voice, it's perfectly judged.

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