BBC Radio 1 has denied claims that it edited out the Irish language section of CMAT’s new single ‘Euro-Country’.
The song is the latest to be shared from the Irish singer’s upcoming album of the same name. Set for release on August 29, it follows 2023’s ‘Crazymad, For Me’ and has also seen the release of singles ‘Running/Planning’, ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’ and ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’.
The first 45 seconds of the latest track features lyrics in Irish – however, when the song was first played on BBC Radio 1 on Tuesday (July 22), that part was not included.
CMAT, real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, took to Instagram Stories that day to question the move. “It was not my decision to have the Irish language edited out of the first-ever play of ‘Euro-Country’ on radio,” she wrote. “I don’t know if it was a mistake or what happened, but that was not my decision.”
She added that the BBC had already been in touch following the mishap, and were “going to play the Irish language intro – the full version of ‘Euro-Country’ … to make up for it.”
The Irish lyrics see CMAT talk about having “an empty head” and “a new personality” after someone close to her has “gone from my life”.
“I don’t know who edited it out – that was crazy of them,” her post continued. “They also did a crazy editing out of the line ‘I was 12 when the dads started killing themselves all around me‘, which I guess is more understandable.”
The BBC has since responded to the comments and clarified that it did not edit out lyrics, but played a radio edit of the song that provided by the record label AWAL.
It also added that the full version including the Irish language section had already been played on Rickie Melvin and Charlie, and that it would be played again on Radio 1’s New Music Show with Jack Saunders.
CMAT has described her upcoming record as “the best thing I have ever made”.
“I felt halfway through recording it was the most important record I’ve made for myself… mainly because it was making me go crazy,” she said.
Later this year, CMAT is set to embark on a UK and Ireland headline tour, which includes huge shows in London and Dublin. The gigs follow on from her career-making set at Glastonbury 2025 last month, and you can find any remaining tickets to the headline shows here.
In a five-star review of her Pyramid Stage appearance, NME praised the country star’s set as one that “captured the spirit of Glasto and set the bar” for others on the Glasto 2025 bill.
It was also named as one of NME‘s “most unforgettable moments from Worthy Farm” this year.