Seven years ago, Irish singer CMAT (born Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) received life-changing advice from a fellow rising pop star. Charli xcx urged her to dump her boyfriend and take making music seriously. It turns out that Charli knows best. “Euro-Country,” CMAT’s third studio album, is her strongest to date, an emotive collection of energetic, cheeky pop songs.
On her previous albums, like 2023’s BRIT Award nominated “Crazymad, for Me,” CMAT mined relationships for big-hearted and humor-filled songs pulling from country-pop rhythms and retro ’70s grooves. On “Euro-Country,” she’s sharpened her tools, becoming both more personal and political in the process.
CMAT opens the title track by singing in Irish. The song, atop swelling synths, traces periods of economic incline and depression in Ireland. “I never understood what this way of living could to do me/All the mooching ’round shops, and the lack of identity,” she opines about the change in culture.
The song reflects the rest of the album: “Euro-Country” is a mix of catchy pop with depth. These are danceable songs written from the frustrated, introspective viewpoint of someone stuck watching daytime dramas in their hometown (the moody “Coronation Street”), or as a sharp mediation on the loss of a close friend (“Lord, Let That Tesla Crash,” which inspired the album). There's also grief for girlhood (“Iceberg”) or for body shaming (the upbeat “Take a Sexy Picture of Me,” which inspired a TikTok dance craze), or, of course, for her country (the title track.)
In an album with many enjoyable moments, a highlight is the uptempo alt-rock swagger of “Jamie Oliver’s Petrol Station.” Lyrically, the song tackles everyday life in Ireland by using Oliver, one of the U.K.’s most ubiquitous celebrity chefs, as a symbol for disillusionment with capitalism. Ambitious, but it works: “It’s the fear of not getting the dole and the joy of then chopping it up with the card that you draw it on,” she sings. “Coming through town and then seeing the type of the people you missed who’d have died back in Dublin.”
The song also highlights CMAT’s talent for funny pop culture lyrical references. “OK, don’t be a (expletive)/The man’s got kids,” she sings, referencing Oliver. “And they wouldn’t like this.”
In the hypercompetitive musical climate of 2025, it is hard to stand apart from the crowd. But on “Euro-Country,” CMAT has furthered her individual vision and style. Now it’s up to the rest of the world to get on board.
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Connie Panzariello, The Associated Press
