CMAT has spoken to NME about how so much new music is breaking through to an audience who have been “starved for an alternative perspective”.
The Irish singer-songwriter caught up with NME on the red carpet for this year’s Mercury Prize where she was shortlisted for her 2023 album ‘Crazymad, For Me’, and faced stiff competition from the likes of Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party, Ghetts, Corinne Bailey Rae, Beth Gibbons, Barry Can’t Swim and more.
However, at the Abbey Road ceremony last Thursday (September 5) it was Leeds band and former NME Cover stars English Teacher who won. The victory made them the first non-London winners of the award in a decade.
Ahead of their victory, CMAT – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson – reflected on the number of debut albums that had made the shortlist this year, and explained how it mirrored the demands from fans in 2024.
“There is a lot of really creative stuff happening because it feels harder than ever to be a musical act in the first place,” she said. “There is very little cultural funding, there’s the cost of living, everything like that, and previously there has been a lot of very wealthy people from very wealthy backgrounds doing music.”
She continued: “But now it does feel like what has been breaking though is the people who are extremely desperate to say things in their music. That has been coming to the forefront, and I think it’s because people are starved for an alternative perspective. To me, that is why there is so much exciting new music happening right now.”
Among those nominated for their debut records this year were The Last Dinner Party with ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’, English Teacher with their winning album ‘This Could Be Texas’, Corto.Alto with ‘Bad With Names’, and Berwyn with ‘Who Am I’.
As well as going on to name Corrine Bailey Rae’s album ‘Black Rainbows’ as her favourite album over the past 12 months, CMAT made her prediction as to what could be the next big trend in music following Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ summer.
“If I knew what the next pop culture phenomenon was going to be I would be very rich and very famous! I didn’t even really get super involved with the ‘Brat’ summer in general because we were just festivalling every day,” she said.
“I know the next trend on the way for me is Gilmore Girls because I rewatch the whole thing every single autumn. It’s Gilmore Girls season… and then Oasis of course,” she added, alluding to the recent reconciliation between Liam and Noel Gallagher, and upcoming Oasis 2025 reunion shows.
“I’m going to see them three times! I did some terrible things, made some terrible promises and I did what I had to do to get myself some Oasis tickets,” CMAT recalled. “I absolutely love them and I was really happy to see that they were performing again. My sister texted me and said, ‘This is the best thing to ever happen to me’… and she had a baby this year.
“I didn’t [see it happening] but it is something that me and my family would talk about a lot. Oasis were the only band that we all liked. It was the sound of my childhood, so it definitely will be Oasis summer next year.”
As for what CMAT has coming up next, the singer told NME she will soon be heading to New York to begin work on the follow-up to ‘Crazymad, For Me’.
“It’s time to make another record. I’m going away at the end of September to start working on my next thing that I’m doing,” she explained, also recalling how she sees close friends and former X Factor contestants Jedward as a source of inspiration.
“I think they’re Jepic. They’re so positive and I think they’ve been miscategorised,” she told us. “People don’t understand that they’re some of the most talented performance artists of our time. They’re geniuses and I love them. They remind me of Klaus Nomi; very avant-garde, very highbrow and a lot more intellectual than people think.”
The comments come as CMAT shared her support for the Irish twins earlier this year and revealed that she had a plan to film an epic music video with them.
Revealing whether fans could expect to see a collaboration with the duo on the next album, CMAT said: “I haven’t really thought about it but that would be great. They were doing concept pop before anyone else was, let me tell you that much. Where is Jedward’s Mercury Prize?”
Earlier this summer, CMAT told NME about the place ‘Crazymad, For Me’ had in the ongoing modern country music phenomenon.
“I think I’m doing a really good job of bastardising country music,” she said. “Half of the country music fans in America who have listened to me, do not like me! But there’s this bubbling resistance to the super-commercialised, very tired country music tropes that we’ve heard for the last 35 years since.
“I’m really proud to be part of it, and I hope that the age-old saying of, ‘I like everything – just not country music or jazz’ becomes a thing of the past as people realise that there is a lot more in both of those genres beyond everything you’ve heard before. There are people making it who really care about it and care about pushing out.”
NME gave ‘Crazymad, For Me’ a four-star review last year, and wrote: “CMAT will have you in stitches one second and emotionally suckerpunched the next. It’s brilliant. Inventive, intoxicating, deliciously camp – she continues to transcend all expectations and remains absolutely unmatched.”